Last Tuesday, we had our 4th hearing, but the first hearing that, from what we understand, is a fairly big deal.
I'll back up and explain. May 31st - Hearing #1: This hearing was simply for the court to officially recognize the emergency order that removed custody from the parents, gave it to the county, and established us as her foster parents. This lasted no more than 10 minutes. June 5th - Hearing #2: This was to establish the parameters of the case. Why custody was taken, expectations of the parents, and what visitation would be allowed. This lasted about 15 minutes. September 13th - Hearing #3: This is a hearing that sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. It depends on the judge assigned to the case. In our case, the judge involved wanted to "check in" to see how everyone's doing and determine if anything needs to be adjusted before the next hearing. At this hearing, joint visits were dissolved at the parent's request and they were given separate, but shorter, visits. This lasted about 15 minutes. November 19th - Hearing #4: This is the hearing we just had. In it, the judge reviewed with the caseworker ALL the details of the case. The two of them basically had a conversation going through the progress (or lack thereof) for each parent over the last 6 months. Afterwards, each parent's lawyer got a chance to ask questions to clarify or correct. Then Baby Girl's lawyer, who spoke to me privately to hear how things were going with Baby Girl and her parents from my perspective before the hearing began, was given a chance to ask questions. The judge described what was added to the expectations for the parents, the visitation allowed moving forward, and when the next hearing would be. At the end, the judge very directly told the parents that, according to the law, the clock was ticking for them to get their act together. At the 15 month mark, the law requires them to pursue adoption for Baby Girl. It has already been almost 6. This hearing lasted an hour. While I can't go into the details of the case, I can say is that birth parents have met a few of the goals laid out for them in June, but more of the goals are left undone and still need to be completed before custody could be considered. The only thing that directly affects us is the visitation. That was unchanged. No time was taken away from the parents and no time was added. Everything for us stays the same. In the grand scheme of things, we'll take it. The next hearing is scheduled for April 14, 2020. This means Baby Girl will be with us at least until then.
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