Foster care??

Question

there is a 1 month old baby in our local hospital who is an extreme case of child neglect. she has been starved and ignored and doesn't make any sort of eye contact they think she may be blind due to lack of nutrition or worse she could be mentally handicap. my sister has visited this child many times and has an extreme bond with her. she wants to adopt her very badly and the child will need a home. my sister works at the hospital and is a infant massage instructer as well as a doula. will she have to go through foster care? is there a way for her to do this. the mother has already said she wants nothing to do with the child, very sad

Answer 1

well.. i'm in the process of being adopted right now and the woman who is going to be my guardian was talking about it  and your sister has to go to court and get a paper and have both parents sign it saying they give over guardianship

if one of the parents is missing it's like 4 thousand dollars for a family lawyer

Answer 2

Your sister should speak with the social worker at the hospital and speak to the mother and tell her she is interesting in adopting the baby and would pay an attorney to draw up relinquishment documents placing the child into her custody until the adoption can be finalized.  I hope it all works out for her.

Answer 3

I'm glad for the child your sister is willing to give her a stable, loving home.  If you are in the US, your state or county probably has a children's protective service that has probably intervened, considering the severity of this case.  Your sister should contact the caseworker for this little girl.

I wish you all the best!

Answer 4

you can call the DHS(department of human services)and ask them.but if you dont find out soon,the baby might be put in foster care,and they wont want to move her.

Answer 5

I am sure that social services is already involved and have a tentative plan. She should call them and express her interest before they place the child with someone else. They will give her all the info for foster care. If social services has not already been involved then the hospital isn't doing their job in notifying them in cases like this.

Answer 6

Your sister needs to talk with someone in Social Services--they'll be able to tell her everything she needs to know.

Answer 7

If the mother still has legal custody (state hasn't taken baby from mama), then find out whether or not she wants to relinquish for adoption.  From there you can consult a lawyer.

If the child is already in state custody, there are many foster families who are waiting to adopt, so your friend might be out of luck.  But she can contact social services to find out what needs to be done, there might be a slim chance she could.

Answer 8

How tragic.  I'm so sad to about these situations.

She should talk to the social worker at the hospital.  There are more issues than just the mother "signing away her rights."  If the mother wants nothing to do with her child, she may very well relinquish her parental rights voluntarily.  But whether she does or not, since this child is in the hospital because of trauma due to abuse, the county's department of children's services probably is already involved.  The hospital is required by law to report such incidents to the department.

There are other relatives and the child's father, as well.  Depending on what's going on with all of that, the child might be placed with an appropriate family member.