Well, we made it home! And this was the first thing I did, as promised. My niece is home with us and will stay! The judge awarded my brother full custody and we were allowed to bring her home! 
No one else even showed up for court! Mother not present, foster parents not present, even the caseworker was not present! The judge told my brother he was thankful that he showed up or he'd have believed the child was unwanted! (Incidentally, the caseworker actually tried to convince my brother that his presence was unnessasary at this hearing. Wonder what would have happened if he had believed her?)
The judge stated that because the mother was not present, he would make no provisions for her to have visitation rights at this time, and further would stipulate that she must show proof of effort to "straighten up her life" before he would even consider granting them. On the down side, he did say he was not prepared to terminate her rights until she had a full six months to contact the courts to try for visitation (the witch has already had over a year, but not before this judge)
So, it stands like this. My brother has full custody of his daughter. There will be another hearing in April to review and close the case, at which time he will hear arguement to terminate her parental rights.
All in all, we're happy!
No one else even showed up for court! Mother not present, foster parents not present, even the caseworker was not present! The judge told my brother he was thankful that he showed up or he'd have believed the child was unwanted! (Incidentally, the caseworker actually tried to convince my brother that his presence was unnessasary at this hearing. Wonder what would have happened if he had believed her?)
The judge stated that because the mother was not present, he would make no provisions for her to have visitation rights at this time, and further would stipulate that she must show proof of effort to "straighten up her life" before he would even consider granting them. On the down side, he did say he was not prepared to terminate her rights until she had a full six months to contact the courts to try for visitation (the witch has already had over a year, but not before this judge)
So, it stands like this. My brother has full custody of his daughter. There will be another hearing in April to review and close the case, at which time he will hear arguement to terminate her parental rights.
All in all, we're happy!
