What will happen to this baby?

Question

a baby girl who is less than a month old. She was taken from her mother by social services, and also the mother has violated her probation by failing a drug test and is now in jail for probably 6 months.

When the mother gets out of jail, will she have a chance to get her child back? or will the baby be put up for adoption by this point? basically how long can the baby stay in foster care before the mother loses rights to her?

Answer 1

Even though you say the kids weren't involved in physical abuse, there is lots of types of abuse.  Like mental and psychological abuse.  I'm sure you wouldn't want to see these kids watch their parents beat each other, and to be raised in that kind of environment.

Answer 2

From the sounds of it, i think the baby would be better off with her siblings in a fosterhome until the can be adopted

Answer 3

my family is a foster family. we had a little boy that was taken from his mom 2 weeks before he turned 2. he's been with us in and off for 3 1/2 years. i think th longest he was with us was for 2 years. it is extremely sad. the baby you are talking about will probably bounce around in the "system" for a few years. if her mom doesnt smarten up or sign her legal rights, the baby will be in foster care until she turns 18.

Answer 4

It may vary from state to state. Before the child can be adopted they would have to terminate the mother's parental rights. Unfortunately the mother may be able to get her back after she gets out of jail but she would have to do several things first. She would have to have a place to live and a way to take care of her and she would probably have to attend parenting classes.

Answer 5

Obviously state laws will vary, but the fact remains, before a child can be adopted both of the birth parents have to have their rights "terminated" through the local court system.  This is extemely hard to accomplish, very few people(judges) ever want to see a birth parent loose the rights to their children.  I personally am in the process of adopting 2 children care, they have been in foster care for almost 5 years now.  It was a long road to be able to have their birth parents rights terminated.  If a birth parent shows much interest at all in keeping their children and are willing to work a case plan in many cases they will get their children back even if they have served time.

Answer 6

I don't know, I'd imagine it depends on what state this is in.

It is sad for this innocent child that our society has bought into the idea of an actual war on drugs, and that those who battle addictions should be treated criminally.

I think we are failing children who are in these situations. The compassionate path would be supporting the parent in detox, and treatment while supervising the safety of the child in the care of the parent.

sad.

Answer 7

Where is the father of the children? He should have stepped up also where is her family? This is a sad case. I heard it is hard to get your child back once cps get"s in volved

Answer 8

A lot depends on the state (or country?) the child is in.  In California, the mother has about 18 months of family reunification services, which can begin while she's in jail.  In some cases, especially when the child is so young, the time line to complete drug rehab, parenting classes, etc. (part of family reunification) may be shortened, depending on many factors.  For example, if the mother has already lost custody of older children and/or had her parental rights terminated for similar reasons.

It's such a sad situation for that little girl!

Answer 9

It is sad but she mustnt be a very fit mother if she has lost all her children to foster care. And usually the baby would go into temporary care until the mother gets out of prison, seen as though it is such a short jail term but given the circumstances... that all of her other children are in foster care, the state might put her baby up for permanent adoption

Answer 10

Unfortunately for the children, as others have said, right now the ball is in the mother's court. There are services available to the mother for her drug addiction as well as her choice of boyfriends. So she will need to follow the rules established by the court relegiously in order to regain the custody of her children. The unfair part is that the children suffer the most in this situation. No matter what the outcome, they get hurt. They lose the contact with their mother over a long period of time if she eventually regains and keeps custody. If she regains and loses custody again, this severely screws them up. If she doesn't regain custody, they are in foster care and hopefully adopted depending on their age, race, and if they have any disabilities (they are already at disadvantage since they are a sibling group).  So sad.

Answer 11

Most states have a "timeframe" in which parents have an opportunity to change their lifestyle and prove they are able to parent the child.  In extreme cases, the state can petition the court for custody and force the parents to relinquish their rights.  NJ tried to do this to our son and his bio parents around 4 months of age.  The difference for us is that the bio family had already decided to proceed with an adoption and a family court judge agreed to allow this to happen and removed the state from the process completely.  

If the bio mother is truly focused on rehabilitating herself and hopes to regain custody of her children someday, I suggest that she speak to her counselor or legal services while in prison to determine what she has to do to try to better insure her position as parent.  However if she does not intend to change her lifestyle, then I believe for the children's sake, they are better in a safe loving environment.

Answer 12

I have a baby who lives in my house who was taken from birth, along with the others that were born after this one.  I believe the ratio is 16 out of 22 solid months in foster care, before rights can be terminated.  With children that young, reunification is always the first case plan...but if she is still doing what got her children there in the first place...right now it doesn't look good!

Answer 13

it varies from state to state.  my sister in law had a baby that was taken from her at the age of 1 month and she did not comply with social services and they adopted the child out when he was in the system for a year.  I say good for him.

How can it be a 4 thumbs down?  IF the dumb @$$ mother was not doing drugs then she would not have to worry about CPS taking her kids and getting them back

Answer 14

As a former caseworker for these kinds of cases, I can tell you that there is a time frame.  It is usually around 18 months.  But, the mother will be expected to complete various programs before the court will consider placing the children back with her.  She will also be expected to have a home and some kind of income.  Welfare is accepted as income, so she doesn't have to have a job.

Whenever we had cases where drug abuse was an issue, the parent(s) were expected to get treatment for this, normally paid for by the state, and prove that they are staying clean.  Parenting classes were normally part of the program as well.  The programs and criteria that she will need to complete/achieve are suggested by social services and the court will usually order what social services suggests.  Social services will also suggest whether or not the children should be returned to the home.  

Reunification was always our first goal.  If the parent(s) could not follow the court ordered program, then eventually termination of parental rights would be considered, and ultimately it could become court ordered.  Unless termination of parental rights occurs, the children will not be placed for adoption.  

I will say that things are not looking good at this point, as she has not been able to stay clean.  It is imperative that she is able to do this.  Programs such as Narcotics Anonymous of often available to persons who are incarcerated, so she may be able to participate in that.  If she has that opportunity, it is highly in her and her children's best interest to do so.  Like I said, 18 months is the usual amount of time that is used before a permanency plan is created.  The permanency plan will include the suggestion by social services as to whether or not to terminate parental rights.  The court is the ultimate decider.