Permanent Custody Hearing?

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maluga
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 2:18 pm

Permanent Custody Hearing?

Postby maluga » Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:21 pm

Children are in Foster care and I am done with my caseplan. They filed to modify temporary custody to Permanent Custody. There is now a 3 day hearing in March. What can I expect? I have new lawyer. But, what can I do to help my case? Get home eval? I cant just sit and wait! I am so scared!

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family_man
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Location: TX

Re: Permanent Custody Hearing?

Postby family_man » Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:59 pm

Maluga,

Sorry to hear the news. To whom are they proposing to award permanent custody? It can't be themselves. Cps doesn't consider their custody of a child to be "permanent." A "permanent" situation is either adoption, or "kinship care" under the Fostering Connections to Success Act:

http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/FCSIAA-summary.pdf

They can't award permanent custody to the foster parents without first terminating your parental rights. This would require a full TPR trial. Is this what is happening? Or are they proposing that a family member be awarded custody?

You and your attorney will have to prepare for the trial by obtaining "discovery" from CPS, which will lay out their reasons for seeking permanent custody. You start off with a disadvantage, because CPS will have had plenty of time to manipulate and create conditions that no longer relate to the reason the child is in custody. Your attorney may be denied access to any documentation that might prove wrong doing by the agency. You will have to counter their exaggerated claims with hard evidence and witnesses of your own if you hope to prevail.

There are three possible outcomes of the trial:

1. The family is exonerated and the child comes home.
2. The parental rights are terminated, which is equivalent to the death penalty for the family unit because now the child is eligible for adoption.
3. The child's custody is awarded to another family member, which is equivalent to sentencing them to "life" without their family, thanks to the new "Kinship care" programs many states are adopting.

Outcome #3 is becoming disturbingly common. Now states no longer have to terminate a parent's rights to place a child forever outside the home. Permanent kinship care has a much lower burden of proof then TPR. Kinship care programs do not carry the same restrictions for foster parents as adoption, allowing the states to more easily collect Social Security Title IV-E funding. In addition, since there was no TPR, the parents can be forced to pay child support, for which the state collects Title IV-D funds for enforcing. This turns our children into a continuous cash flow for the state. All of this can take place over a caseworker or investigator not doing their job as defined by statutes of law, Administrative rules or handbook/manual guidelines; with near ZERO accountability. When called down on their mishandling of a case, they hide behind their "Good Faith" immunity.
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice.

maluga
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 2:18 pm

Re: Permanent Custody Hearing?

Postby maluga » Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:25 pm

It says they are seeking Permanent custody of the children to the Sandusky County Department of Job and Family Services.

maluga
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 2:18 pm

Re: Permanent Custody Hearing?

Postby maluga » Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:29 pm

Then its says they move to obtain Permanent Custody of the children, therefore terminating the parental rights of the children's parents and requests approval of the attached modified case plan. Of course, there was nothing attached, so I can not see what they are planning to do with my children.

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family_man
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Location: TX

Re: Permanent Custody Hearing?

Postby family_man » Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:07 pm

You and your attorney had better find out what grounds they have for the TPR, and find out through court-ordered discovery what evidence and witnesses they have against you; then subpoena their witnesses in a deposition, to find find out what they're going to say in court before they say it. This is the only way you're going to be able to defend yourself against whatever they say about you. You also have a right to see their revised case plan for your child. You'll need that in order to argue that it's in his best interest to be reunited with you. You will also have to assemble evidence that every condition of your case plan has been met. If you can't get all this information together in a timely manner, you would have grounds to continue your case until you do.
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice.


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