This can't be happening... everything feels surreal.

[missing_my_kids]

I'm trying to be as non- descriptive as possible while still giving all the relevant information, so please if I leave something out that is necessary, just ask.

We're in Florida.

DCF knocked on our door in early August. They allege the house was messy and a hazard. I do have an anxiety disorder, which I am currently getting treatment for - I started as soon as DCF removed the kids. DCF sent the kids to my parents because of the allegation that the house was messy. The kids are not malnourished, injured, mistreated, abused, or harmed. 2 days after the removal, we had a Saturday morning Shelter Hearing (note that in Florida, DCF has only 24 hours to file a shelter hearing or to explain why they need an extension. On the dependency petition that was filed, all the dates say one day later than the kids were removed, I presume to make the 24 hours rule appear that it was followed). The kids were placed with my parents.

We immediately started working on anything we could think of to get the kids back. We enrolled (on our own) in parenting classes. I got psychiatric treatment for my anxiety disorder. We have been scrubbing the whole house from top to bottom. We replaced the laundry facilities, which were apparently unacceptable. We replaced the stained furniture with brand new. We replaced all four kids beds, got new bedding for all of them. Redecorated all the children's rooms. Everything, everything we have been able to do around the house we've done.

The judge asked DCF to do a home study before the court date early next month. There's still a lot we need to do - having carpets professionally cleaned, replace one boxspring, new dining room chairs, scrub all walls and paint the entire house, clean the backyard, pressure wash the front yard, replace bathroom set (because it's not "homey"), add locks to all drawers and cabinets new curtains, fire extinguisher, clean the garage, add smoke alarms to all rooms of the house (we have them in 5 or 7), replace door knobs (because ours are somehow a fire hazard), etc..

We're going broke. I'm going to default on my student loans to pay for all this. Every request we've asked of our caseworker to help us has been ignored. The vast majority of our phone calls go unanswered. My parents, who have the kids, refuse to communicate with us at all except what is court ordered for visitation purposes. We've borrowed hundreds of dollars and we're still going broke, and going into crazy amounts of debt to pay for all this.

I don't know what to do. SUrrendering my kids is NOT an option.... but I feel like the DCF caseworker hates us, or at least has made up her mind about not liking us. I'm terrified that we'll fail the home inspection for a stupid reason, something unforeseeable.

I

[family_man]

Take plenty of pictures to show the judge. I fear, however, that your kids will have to remain in your parents' care for the standard time of around 12 months, and in state legal custody for another 6 months after that. DCF doesn't mind inflicting trauma on children when they suddenly remove children from their home, but they are hypersensitive of the "trauma" they might inflict when they give them back. They do this second step VERY slowly and gradually, with painstaking deliberation every step of the way.