RE: Ward of court placed in foster care home when relatives are available

[MJGOR]

In a Fulton County Ilinois Court Room today a judge ruled that a child should be placed in a non-relative foster care home until the next court date which is not scheduled until August 23rd. The judge did not allow the DCFS investigator to say anything even though he tried to say that the grandmother or an aunt would take the child. As the aunt of that child I was made to sit outside the courtroom and could not say anything. As a certified teacher there is no reason that this child should not be in my home or that of her grandmother. What can we do now? Do we have to hire a lawyer?

 

[scumcoast]

It most cases it is totally up to the judge, and the family member that is willing to take the children must be investigated, possibly drug tested, and a home study completed prior to the placement. Did the agency have time to get all this completed before the hearing?