Can a foster parent get custody of a child if the biological parents are not fit but the agency gives her back

Question

We have been a foster parent to this little girl for 5 months. The parents are both slow and the father does drugs and his mother has told us that he plays with himself in front of her, the mother has done perks in the past. The agency is finding the parents fit to take her back, ignoring what our concerns are. The parents fight constantly and got a certificate in anger management but the PSW workers say they both have so much rage in them still, the agency is ignoring this fact. We were asked by the grandparents to please adopt her because she is in such a good home with so much love with us, we would love to but we don't know the procedure. Do you know any rights that we may have as foster parents.

Answer 1

I need advice please help my sister started doing drugs about 7 years ago she has had 4 kids one is 16 and lives with his father that has full custody of him. the other is 10 and was placed in our others sisters care 7 years ago and i have the two youngest children i have had them for over 2 years now and they are 3 and 4 and have been in foster care for the most part of there lives they were only with the mother and father for 6 monthes of there lives and the state and dcfs wanted to let us adopt them well the judge just keeps giving the father chance after chance and gave him another chance because he has a lawyer and the judge says if he complies with passing the drug tests and keeping a job he will get them back the problem is that he knows that the crack only stays in his system for 48 hours so when he knows he has one coming up he stays clean but everytime they try to do a suprise test he lies and says he is out of town for 2 days and that he will take it when he gets back (long enough for it to pass out of his system my sister has told the dcfs case worker this and says that she wants me to adopt the children because they are in a good home and daycare they have a good support system and that they are happy for the first time in there lives they have stability. but she is scared of the childrens father and wont tell the judge when the case worker tried to tell the judge he just shut her off before getting to finish and he has a really good lawyer and the judge believes everything the father has to say i am scared i am going to lose them and the father has called them telling them they are coming home to live with him and they dont know him so they cry every night begging me not to let him take them i really need help i dont know what to do I know he is still doing drugs because my sister tells me that everytime they get paid they use her paycheck to get there goodies as she calls them shes even told the case worker that and that he knows how to beat the drug test by staying clean for the 48 hours and that right aftre they do the drug test he goes and get high again i love these kids like they are mine and i am scared i am going to lose them and that if he gets them back he will move out of state with them so dcfs cannot check in with him anymore and i know that there lives will go back to the way it was when he gets high he gets voilent he choked the oldest boy till the vains in his neck turned blue and his eyes were blood shot please anyone help i think even if they cant stay with me the dont deserve to be put back into a h**l like they were...

Answer 2

We are going through the same thing, however I am not an immediate blood relative, my children are.  Weird situation.  When the Foster Care Worker started transitioning the children to me, the Foster Parents filed for custody.  Now we are in a custody battle of who has the rights, the foster parents or the family (me)....I can see both sides of the situation and feel for anyone involved in this mess...In our case, the kids should never have been placed in foster care from the beginning since we were willing to take them from the moment they were removed.  The Foster Parents were also told from the beginning that they would be able to adopt them, just to be patient.  They immediately became attached thinking they could keep them....now they find out differently.

Answer 3

We wanted to do the same thing in Florida but the agency we are with said if we got a lawyer we would loose our license and more than likely loose the case. The Judge and everyone involved in our case has been extremely understanding of the situation, but there is nothing anyone can do. We had two foster children and are adopting the older one, but the baby, who we have had since 3 months and is now 22 months, will be going to his fathers Aunt and Uncle. His father tried to get him back but he is too involved with cocaine to be his father. Sadly, Florida does whatever they can to put kids with their parents or parents families.

I'm thankful though he is going to the Aunt and Uncle because they are the only winners in the family and can provide a stable life for our son and they both have high paying jobs. The only reason the father wanted him to start with was because he was jealous his son was calling another man daddy and he made that very clear. He only acknowledged his son 6 months ago. His Aunt and Uncle are very loving of our son and very encouraging of us having visits.

I would spea to the parents if it absolutely looks like the child is going back to them. They may not be prepared for a 2 year old and everything they can do. It can be overwhelming for parents not use to it. If they get the child your best bet would be visits if they allow them or babysitting. If you suspect abuse report it immediately.

Answer 4

my parents have the same problem, we have been fostering 5 kids that have all been molested by both the mom and the dad. the agency says they believe the girls cliam but cant believe the boys. i don't know why. and the social worker for the kids have known the mother since she was sixteen so thats alot of help that mother is getting. i have seen these kids get beat and whipped by this mom and dad. which is why we got them. i dont want them to get hurt again but the judge is leaning more towards their mothers side. all these kids do not want to go back, they have been hurt and suffered... they never ate, showered or even went to school and would get beat for waking up the mom and dad after them doing their drugs. they were told to eat s**t not as a joke. we are not just a foster parent we are also blood relatives (aunt and uncle and cousins.)the only ones with clean, with no felonies, charges, jailtime or anything on our records. is their anything we can do to help them stay here. they have all told on for being molested. i would of thought there would have been no question asked for molestation charges. but i dont know can someone help, they really dont want to go back. and plus the dads a gang member for the nortes. now dont gangs take a blood oath that they cant leave ever.. so if they go back, they are still endangering the kids lives especially now that he has molested and wants out of the gang.  help please