Ok, ok. So WE didn't really move.
Our case did! We had another review hearing on April 14. It was a telephone hearing with just the lawyers, caseworkers, and judge. I was notified of what was happening before and after. Here are the highlights: 1. Adoption Unit: Her case has officially been moved over to the adoption unit! What does that mean? Well, for starters, it's the county's way of showing the court its intention to terminate parental rights. As it was explained to me, there is a list of things that the county has to have completed in order to change over from permanency (trying to reunify her with family) to adoption. We have a new caseworker whose purpose is to prepare the case for adoption and unless the birth parents or another form of kin step up and complete all the necessary steps that have been laid out since last June, they will terminate parental rights. 2. Terminate parental rights: How and when does this happen? Well, by law, the county MUST file to terminate parental rights if the child has been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months. Counties with substantial evidence can make this move earlier, which is what our county is doing. Once it hits a year of Baby Girl in our care, they will file a motion with the court to terminate rights. One year will be May 30th. 24 days from today. 3. Parental plan and visits: As far as the birth parents go, they still have the same visits every week. No more, no less. They can still try to accomplish the list of goals that were laid out for the at the hearing last June, but to put it bluntly, they are no closer to accomplishing them than they were when the goals were first given a year ago. As our coordinator said during our annual re-evaluation, they are just too young and don't understand how to be parents. They have never had to be responsible for anyone, including themselves, and are completely dependent on their guardians for everything. 4. Next hearing: There is one already scheduled for September. That is the normal "review" hearing that basically checks in with the birth parents and sees where they are in the attempt towards reunification and meeting their goals. However, depending on the court's schedule, the hearing to terminate parental rights could happen before then. It all depends on the court and when it can be fit in. I'm told it would likely be around 6 months from when the notice to terminate parental rights is filed May 30. We won't have a date for that until after the motion to terminate has been filed and it can be put on the schedule. ----------------- The thing to remember in all of this is that the birth parents still have their parental rights until the termination hearing. They still have visits. They can get their act together and complete their goals in order to get her back. If that happens, the case can move back to the permanency unit. Is it likely? No. But it is always a possibility as is the possibility of someone related suddenly deciding they want to get custody and then going through the necessary steps. . Simply put, IF no one else comes forward to try and get custody and IF birth parents don't meet their required goals, the timeline looks like this: 1. Case moves to adoption unit - Done April 13 2. Caseworker files notice to terminate parental rights - Most likely happening May 30 (the 1 year in foster care mark) 3. Termination of parental rights hearing - 6 months from filing notice, likely around November ---------- One last thing: A common question being asked is "When will she be "officially" adopted in front of a judge?" The short answer is we don't know, but probably not for awhile. The long answer is we don't know because a) We haven't asked. There are a LOT of steps that have to happen before we get there and no one in the county has a crystal ball to know how fast every step along the way will take. And add in this whole COVID thing, it's thrown everything out of whack. b) This process is LONG and full of legal red tape. She has already been in our care a year and parental rights have not been terminated yet and likely won't be for another 6 months. Our coordinator said expect it to go into 2021 before we adopt her. c) To be blunt, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Since anything can happen, we are living in the here and now and once we get to the point where parental rights have ACTUALLY been terminated, we will have a better picture and feel more comfortable asking the question of when she will be adopted. As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers for our family and specifically Baby Girl.
2 Comments
Rachel
5/17/2020 06:35:59 pm
Best wishes! I’ve been following your story and hope things progress to give baby girl the best chance of success in life. I never saw another post about your pregnancy, but I hope your heart is extra full of love with another baby in the home.
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Rachel
5/30/2020 06:52:44 am
We did have our baby! Another boy 🙂 Thanks for following our journey. Perhaps another post is in order updating on him. I never thought to do that since he’s not adopted!
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