Custody of my daughters half-sisters

[tazbug]

Florida,
I live in Florida and my daughters 2 half-sisters are in fostercare in a county two and a half hours away. Their father is a heroin addict and had sole custody of them. He was incarcerated on Dec.2, on multiple counts of burglary, larceny, dealing in stolen property and fraud(giving false name to LEO). He is still under investigation for 150 more crimes. It is expected that he will be spending a lengthy amount of time in prison. More charges keep coming up against him as he sits in jail. Their mother is also a heroin addict and has already lost another baby to DCF custody due to a positive drug test at the time of birth. She has been declared unfit by a judge in her jurisdiction. That child has since been adopted through the DCF fostercare system.I have taken care of the girls on several occassions with the last one being, Dec.22,2003 - April 15, 2004. At that time the father brought the girls to me and was supposed to be going in to a drug rehab but instead ended up going back and doing more drugs and stole a check from his girlfriends fathers business. He tried to cash it and got arrested. What are my chances of gaining custody of these 2 little girls to keep them with their sister(My daughter)? Any advice that anyone has to offer would be much appreciated and thank you in advance.My e-mail address is tazbug3@aol.com .

 

[LdiJ]

Florida,
I live in Florida and my daughters 2 half-sisters are in fostercare in a county two and a half hours away. Their father is a heroin addict and had sole custody of them. He was incarcerated on Dec.2, on multiple counts of burglary, larceny, dealing in stolen property and fraud(giving false name to LEO). He is still under investigation for 150 more crimes. It is expected that he will be spending a lengthy amount of time in prison. More charges keep coming up against him as he sits in jail. Their mother is also a heroin addict and has already lost another baby to DCF custody due to a positive drug test at the time of birth. She has been declared unfit by a judge in her jurisdiction. That child has since been adopted through the DCF fostercare system.I have taken care of the girls on several occassions with the last one being, Dec.22,2003 - April 15, 2004. At that time the father brought the girls to me and was supposed to be going in to a drug rehab but instead ended up going back and doing more drugs and stole a check from his girlfriends fathers business. He tried to cash it and got arrested. What are my chances of gaining custody of these 2 little girls to keep them with their sister(My daughter)? Any advice that anyone has to offer would be much appreciated and thank you in advance.My e-mail address is tazbug3@aol.com .

I think that you are going to have to talk to the DCF agency that currently has custody of the girls. Its not unheard of for them to place children with the parents of the children's siblings. However, its very possible that they will be wanting to place the children for adoption. Are you willing to adopt?
Call and talk to them.

 

[tazbug]

Certainly

I am most certainly willing to adopt the girls. I have been in constant contact with the case worker. I made a trip down there to bring some gifts for the girls for x-mas. The case worker tried to set up a visit, but the fostermom absolutely refused to allow it to happen. She even questioned the validitity of the fact that my daughter was their sister. They done my fingerprints and I signed a release for the background check when I was there. They were going to place the girls with me as long as the home-study went well. But, then suddenly, the following week, the fostermom said that the girls did not want to see me. I find this to be odd and I personally think that the girls are being cohersed in to saying that. The girls could not give a reason as to why they did not want to see me when the case worker asked them. Needless to say, this put a hold on the home study.So the girls remain in fostercare instead. However they do want to see my daughter. So they have set up an appt. for them to visit her. When the girls were with me they were very happy and had a stable life. The girls love me so much that, when they were with me, they had asked me if they could call me mom. It broke my heart to have to tell them no, but, without knowing what the future held for us, I didn't think it was appropriate. I didn't want them to be confused, knowing that their father would probably just come and get them once he was released from jail(which is exactly what happened). I have little notes that they had written to me when they were here telling me how much they love me and why. One note even says that they wish they could live with me forever. Will the judge take these notes into consideration? The girls are only 6 and 8 years old. I am considering going to court asking the judge for full custody of the girls. What do you think I should do? I cannot just sit back and let them get lost in the system. I want them here with me.

 

[Phnx02]

I am confused.....you say these 2 girls are your daughter's half sisters, but then say they have a mother and father other than yourself. Are you the grandmother? Or are they step-sisters? Anyways, I can't give you any legal advice, but do believe that most courts/SS agencies prefer to place children with family members.....as long as that home is good and stable. On that notion, I would contact as many agencies, organizations, support groups as possible in your area for help and advice. Try to talk to someone who's been in a very similiar situation to learn what they did and for other referrals. You can get a wealth of information from people like this. Also look up other websites......on adoption and/or foster care to learn more. Finally, consult with an attorney to find out your rights. It's better to be involved with "the case".....announce your willingness to take the girls.....before they're completely given to the state.

 

[Chelle0511]

I am confused.....you say these 2 girls are your daughter's half sisters, but then say they have a mother and father other than yourself. Are you the grandmother? Or are they step-sisters? Anyways, I can't give you any legal advice, but do believe that most courts/SS agencies prefer to place children with family members.....as long as that home is good and stable. On that notion, I would contact as many agencies, organizations, support groups as possible in your area for help and advice. Try to talk to someone who's been in a very similiar situation to learn what they did and for other referrals. You can get a wealth of information from people like this. Also look up other websites......on adoption and/or foster care to learn more. Finally, consult with an attorney to find out your rights. It's better to be involved with "the case".....announce your willingness to take the girls.....before they're completely given to the state.

Duh... the children all have the same father. The poster's ex boyfriend/husband.

 

[LdiJ]

I am most certainly willing to adopt the girls. I have been in constant contact with the case worker. I made a trip down there to bring some gifts for the girls for x-mas. The case worker tried to set up a visit, but the fostermom absolutely refused to allow it to happen. She even questioned the validitity of the fact that my daughter was their sister. They done my fingerprints and I signed a release for the background check when I was there. They were going to place the girls with me as long as the home-study went well. But, then suddenly, the following week, the fostermom said that the girls did not want to see me. I find this to be odd and I personally think that the girls are being cohersed in to saying that. The girls could not give a reason as to why they did not want to see me when the case worker asked them. Needless to say, this put a hold on the home study.So the girls remain in fostercare instead. However they do want to see my daughter. So they have set up an appt. for them to visit her. When the girls were with me they were very happy and had a stable life. The girls love me so much that, when they were with me, they had asked me if they could call me mom. It broke my heart to have to tell them no, but, without knowing what the future held for us, I didn't think it was appropriate. I didn't want them to be confused, knowing that their father would probably just come and get them once he was released from jail(which is exactly what happened). I have little notes that they had written to me when they were here telling me how much they love me and why. One note even says that they wish they could live with me forever. Will the judge take these notes into consideration? The girls are only 6 and 8 years old. I am considering going to court asking the judge for full custody of the girls. What do you think I should do? I cannot just sit back and let them get lost in the system. I want them here with me.

It sounds to me like there is a foster mom who wants to adopt the girls herself. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense for her to be blocking your efforts at visitation/placement. I would recommend getting an attorney quickly to help you with all of this.

 

[tazbug]

Another delay

Thank you so much for your opinions.My daughter and the girls have the same dad.I only dated him for 4 months, until I found out what he was all about, then i broke it off. Today I got a call from the case worker letting me know that the fostermom called her to cancel the visit between the girls and my daughter.Supposedly, her husband reminded her that they were going to do someting with the girls on that day because there is no school. She supposedly forgot.(Yeah, right)! That is exactly the reason that we scheduled the visit for that day, because it was open. The case worker said that she is having a hard time getting a visit for their mother also. I asked why she thought that the fostermom was making it so hard for anyone to visit. All she could say is that she just had plans for the girls on that day. I have scheduled an appointment with Legal Aide to fight for custody of the girls. Anymore opinions or advice is greatly appreciated.