11:08 am by Penelope

What are Legal Risk Placements in Foster Care?

Our home is a dual-licensed foster home meaning that we are licensed for both foster care and adoption; however, we are currently only open for legal risk placements. This week, our foster home worker sent us these FAQs on legal risk placements. Does this answer your questions or create more?

LEGAL RISK PLACEMENTS

Some Questions and Answers

A child is placed in an adoptive home when all rights of birth parents have been terminated. There are times when this cannot happen because of legal complications involving the termination. When this happens we may consider an adoptive placement with potential adoptive parents who are willing to take the risk that parental rights may not be terminated or who are willing to wait for this to happen no matter how long it takes.

1. What is a legal risk placement?

A legal risk placement is the placement of a child(ren) into an adoptive home prior to a final order terminating parental rights. OR, if termination of parental rights has taken place, and the biological parents have appealed the termination to an appeals court.

2. Why does the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services utilize “legal risk” placements?

Have you seen this movie “Losing Isaiah”?

This is a good question because some would suggest that no child be placed for adoption until all potential legal obstacles have been cleared. TDPRS chooses to go ahead with a legal risk placement when the agency is reasonably confident that termination will occur. It has been our experience that the wait for all court action to be finalized has created devastating consequences to the children in our Conservatorship. In order to minimize the period of uncertainty in the child/ren’s life, TDPRS may proceed with a legal risk placement. The Department will do all it can to expedite (or, speed up) the legal process and to reduce the risks of the adoptive placement being overturned. Nevertheless, there can be no guarantees. The Department recognizes that, if something goes wrong, then the family and child may face heartbreak and emotional trauma. The Department is very cautious about utilizing legal risk placement prior to termination of parental rights. Therefore, the Department will not consider making a legal risk placement unless it believes it has a good, solid care for termination.

Legal risk placements usually occur when a child needs to be moved from a foster home near the time the parental rights are to be terminated. This move will only be made if it is our assessment that the child is ready to start bonding with the potential adoptive family.

3. What requirements must a family meet in order to be considered for a legal risk placement?

A family must be licensed as foster parents until termination of parental rights occurs and must follow all rules and regulations that apply to foster parents. The prospective adoptive family will need to be trained in CPR and First Aid prior to being licensed as foster parents.

The prospective adoptive family will have foster home worker who will visit the family once every two months and it will be important for the family to attend the six month review hearing (Chapter 18 Court Hearings) and the Permanency Planning Team meetings that affect the child placed in their home.

4. Should an attorney be consulted prior to entering into a legal risk placement?

The Department strongly recommends that a family consult an Attorney regarding legal risk placements. By consulting an attorney, the family will be able to obtain an assessment of the risks from a neutral source.

5. When are legal risk placements made?

A placement is considered to be a legal risk when:

A. parental rights have not been terminated;

B. a parent has appealed the judgment terminating parental rights;

C. a parent has taken action indicating that a termination judgment likely will be appealed.

6. What risks must a prospective adoptive family consider?

The greatest risk is that a prospective adoptive family will have to give up a child. There are other factors a prospective adoptive family must consider. For example, the family might have to provide continuing visits between the child and birth parents until termination takes place. In addition, the prospective adoptive family will not be able to tell the child that they are their adoptive family until parental rights have been terminated.

Finally, the prospective adoptive family must recognize that the legal system can operate at a slow, unpredictable rate. The termination hearing may be set and postponed time and time again.

7. How long will the process take?

Because every case is different, this is an impossible question to answer. Because of the legal process it sometimes takes six months or longer for parental rights to be terminated. After the termination hearing has been held, a court order must be drafted. This order then must be approved by all parties and signed by the judge. An estimate of the time involved in the process is 30 days, although it can take much longer. A biological parent has 30 days to appeal after the judge has signed the termination order and relatives specified in the law have 90 days to file intervention of interest for placement or contact.

8. When does a legal risk placement become an adoptive placement?

The placement can change form legal risk foster placement to an adoptive placement 30 days after the judge has signed the termination order. The child may take the last name of the adoptive family at this time.

9. What happens if a termination order is appealed?

Thirty days after the termination order has been signed, the status of the family changes from foster care to adoption. Should the birth parents appeal the termination, they obtain an attorney who may challenge the termination order. This appeal goes to an appellate court which can take six months to two years to hear the case. If the termination order is overturned, the case will again go to trial.

10. Will the Department appeal when the children are ordered to be returned to their biological parents?

There is only a very slight possibility the Department may pursue an appeal. The vast majority of trial court decisions are upheld.

Types of Legal Risks Placements:

1. Termination has occurred but birth parent is appealing (Regular adoptive placement);

2. No termination but the Department is reasonably confident termination will occur- Mainly uncontested terminations. (Adoptive parents must be licensed as a foster home and cannot tell the child they are the potential adoptive family).

Legal Risk Placements Occur When:

1. Parental rights are not terminated or Parental rights have been terminated and are under appeal;

2. If no Termination, the termination of parental rights is likely to occur;

3. A child needs to be moved from their foster home very near the time parental rights are to be terminated;

4. The placements in an adoptive home can save the child extra move into another foster home;

5. The child is ready to start bonding to their potential adoptive family;

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services will place children or families in legal risk situations only if:

A. It is the best interest of the child;

B. There is a high degree of probability that parental rights will be terminated; or

C. Details have been discussed with the family.

Before a Legal Risk Placement can occur:

1. A prospective family must be identified and they must be licensed as a foster family;

2. The family must read the child’s Health, Social, Educational, Genetic and History Report before they meet the child;

3. The family must read the child’s de-identified case record;

4. The family must read and sign the Legal Risk Placement agreement with the Department.

OTHER OPTIONS:

Dual-Licensed Home: A Dual-Licensed family is a family who is licensed as both a foster family and an adoptive family. They will take both foster care placements and adoptive placements. A child would be placed in the home as foster care placement. If the child becomes legally free, the family has the option to adopt that particular child. The family will also be considered for adoptive placement of other children who are not in their home.

Dual-Licensed families differ from Legal Risk families in the intent of the placement. Legal Risk families are adoptive families who are licensed as foster families in order to take a legal risk placement. The intent of the placement is adoption. Dual-Licensed families are both adoptive and a foster family. The adoptive placements are true adoptive placements. The foster care adoptive placements are with the intent that the agency is working to return the child to the parent or relative. It is true foster care placement.

10:50 am by Penelope

Water Safety as a Licensed Foster Home

This has been the hottest summer that I can remember! Here in Texas, we have had 100+ temperatures for over 40 days!!! 40 days!!!

Tomorrow, the forecast is for 110 degrees!!! 110 degrees!!! It is impossible to stay cool if you are outside in this heat. We had purchased a blow-up wading pool for the kids (and us) for some family water fun; however….

We received an email from our foster home worker to “gently” remind us of the requirements for above ground pools as a licensed foster home:

If this summer heat is making you want to go out and buy an above ground pool, please remember to inform me before you fill it with water, so I can make a home visit to ensure all requirements have been met. Above ground pools need to comply with Minimum Standards and Policy, which are:

7251 Water Safety CPS April 2002

When a foster and/or adoptive parent family home is verified or approved, CPS staff must ensure that the home is in compliance with the following water safety requirements:

1.   Children under age five or children with physical or cognitive impairments must be supervised at all times in a bathtub;
2.   Adults or persons certified in water safety must supervise children around any large bodies of water at all times. This includes swimming and wading pools, hot tubs, stock ponds, creeks, rivers, lakes, oceans, or bays;
3.   Foster and/or adoptive parents who have a pool or body of water on their property must successfully complete a water safety course;
4.   Life jackets must be worn by all children and youth who engage in boating activities and by children who are in more than two feet of water and do not know how to swim;
5.   Hot tubs must be securely covered when not being used;
6.   Swimming pools must have physical barriers designed to limit access. Barriers include fences or walls, and pool safety covers.
·  Fences and walls around pools must be at least four feet high and well-constructed (the Red Cross recommends vertical fencing, and openings in the fence should be no more than four inches wide); these barriers must be installed completely around the pool.
·  Fence gates must be self-closing, self-latching, and locked when the pool is not in use.
·  If the house forms one side of the barrier for the pool, then doors leading from the house to the pool must be protected with alarms that produce an audible sound when a door is opened.
·  Applicable doors and windows must also have a lock installed that cannot be unlocked by a child under the age of five without assistance.
·  A child safety pool cover that can be placed over the water area may be used as an alternative barrier for fences or walls. However, pool covers are only required when there is no fence or wall surrounding the pool. Pool covers must be completely removed prior to pool use;
7.   Exterior ladders (not in-pool ladders) on above-ground pools must be removed and gates secured and locked when the pool is not in use;
8.   Furniture or large materials must never be left near the pool’s fence so children may not use them to scale the fence;
9.   Toys must be kept away from a pool that is not in use (toys can attract young children into the pool);
10. A telephone and basic lifesaving equipment must always be kept by the pool (for example, a pole, rope, and personal floatation devices);
11. Foster family group homes must comply with additional standards developed by DFPS’s Licensing Division (see the Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies, Appendix G, Foster Group Homes, Standards G-3100.3 and G‑3100.4); and
12. Foster and/or adoptive homes must also comply with all local and county ordinances.

Needless to say, we didn’t fill it.

What are the standards for water safety in your state?

4:57 am by Penelope

PERMANENCY FOR OUR FOSTER BABY

Wednesday is a big day! We have been invited to the permanency conference for our 10-month-old foster boy, Lil Bit. A permanency conference is a meeting that the State holds to discuss a plan for permanency for a foster child with the involved parties.

The first permanency conference is held when a child is first removed, where the plan for permanent placement is almost always reunification with the parents. In this meeting, everything the parent has to do to be reunited with their children is discussed with all the tasks spelled out for them.

Another is held later, especially if the parent has not complied with the permanency plan. My husband and I showed up for one with another foster child, where the case worker didn’t think we should attend and sent us on our way since the State was going to discuss terminating the mother’s parental rights. (She had disappeared for a month and a half on a drug binge)

Remember, our strange day in court last month, where we showed up expecting a hearing on whether or not the baby stays with us or moves to his great-aunt’s home? With the CASA and baby’s ad litem attorney pushing for a familial placement with the great-aunt, we were preparing to pack the baby’s things and say good-bye. We were shocked when the recommendation from the State and CASA was for the baby to remain with us until another hearing in September!

However, last week, through our attorney, I received the status report from the State on this case. The State is moving for terminating the mother’s parental rights! We had no idea! The mother is mentally-challenged and recently moved back in with her abusive grandmother. She has lived in 4 places in 6 months.

Another important thing we learned from the status report is that there is a cousin wanting custody of Lil Bit.

A list of those in line for Lil Bit:

Lil Bit’s great-aunt – barely passed home study due to previous investigations, but State and others are recommending this familial placement for Lil Bit
US – foster parents for most of the 10 months of Lil Bit’s life
The Cons – has Lil Bit’s 5 other siblings and is collecting a disability check on ALL of them (actually told State investigator that they would get Lil Bit by buying the mother “a shiny, new cell phone”)
AND NOW, A COUSIN HAS COME OUT OF THE WOOD WORK!!!

Where were these family members with the last 5 children the mother lost custody of ?

Please say a quick prayer for us Wednesday morning!

“And we know that all things God work together for good to those who love God” – Romans 8:28

Here’s a picture I recently took of our Lil Bit with my 12-year-old puppy that suffers from ADHD/OCD.

Check out the other pet photos at iheartfaces.

7:27 am by admin

UPDATE on Lil Bit…Part 2 (Our Day in Court)

Foster parents usually don’t have “standing” in a custody hearing on foster children unless the child has been in the foster home for at least a year.
[“Standing mean that you have a legal case in court.
If you don’t have standing, your case is dismissed.]

Here we are about to “intervene” in the custodial placement of Lil Bit, our 6-month-old foster baby, into the home of a distant relative. A foster family “intervening” in a family placement is pretty much unheard of in our area.

However, this is an unusual case in that another family also tried to intervene in Lil Bit’s placement with the distant relative. All of Lil Bit’s 5 siblings have previously been adopted by a friend of his birth mother. This family friend also intervened and requested standing in court.

Lil Bit’s birth mother was supporting him going to live with this family and his 5 siblings (along with the many other children in the home)
instead of with her family member.

However, Children Protective Services (CPS), the baby’s ad litem attorney, the Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for the baby, ALL objected to their intervention. Their case for standing was quickly dismissed with these objections and because they had not met Lil Bit.

At this point, there was no objection to our standing in this case.
(WE’RE IN!!!)

Now that the birth mother’s friend wouldn’t get Lil Bit, the mother asked her attorney to meet me. Our attorneys awkwardly agreed. When we were introduced, I gave her pictures I had taken of Lil Bit in the 2 months he had lived with us. Looking through the photos, she wiped away tears from her face. She decided to now support us instead of her family member in this custody hearing. (Strange, isn’t it? Sadly, I believe it demonstrates a deep dysfunction in the family)

Also, in our favor, there was doubt of whether Lil Bit would be able to receive government benefits in the near future since he was born in Mexico. Since we are financially able to provide for him with our income, the CASA and ad litem attorney now supported Lil Bit staying with us.

So now we are in court asking that our foster baby stay in our home and not go live with a distant relative. The baby’s mother, ad litem attorney and CASA all support Lil Bit staying with us.
Then, there is CPS policy…

The CPS policy is, if possible, children are placed with family members –
However, since CPS is the only party not supporting the baby staying with us, they had to call state headquarters to see if they could officially support the baby staying with us. If so, then there would be a consensus of all the parties that Lil Bit stay with us and we could all go home without a hearing.

So there we are in court –
waiting –
tic tock, tic tock –
$4 a minute in attorney fees…

45 minutes later we finally get the official answer from Austin.
CPS policy is always family first.

The judge then granted a continuance and our custody hearing is now set for another day.

Please pray for us – we need strength, courage and faith that “all things work together for good.”