My little sister is a 25 year old single mother who pretends she does not have responsibilities. she recently moved back into my parents house who already has my brother, wife and his children there (he pays the bills). she sleeps on their sofa while my two nieces sleep on the floor. she says she goes to work at 7am therefore it's my sister-in-law or mother that gets my nieces ready for school and drops them off; but she comes home after midnight high and smelling of weed or sometimes not at all, so my mother or sister-in-law are the ones making sure that their homework is done, they're fed, bathed etc.. my sister does not help out with home expenses cuz according to her she is always broke which is odd cuz she swears she is always at work. when she is at home she is always yelling at her children or asleep on the sofa. Their father is in jail and also a pot-head. As kids we did not have the best home environment which makes me worry cuz i love them and they deserve better.
2007-03-10 23:29:00 · 4 answers · asked by m b 1 in Family & Relationships ➔ Family
You need to call Child Protective Services and have her investigated. However be ready for a battle. If they deem her unfit, the children will be removed from the home and she will be given a case plan to work. She has a year to get her act together. Now since she is in your parents home the children will be removed from there. You need to state that you want them and you need to be homestudy ready. Basically you have to be a licensed foster parent in order to get custody of the children while your sister works her case plan. They will still have visits with her while she is doing all of this. If after a year she has shown NO improvement and I do mean NO improvement then termination of parental rights can be started by the state. If she shows improvement even a little the children will be returned to her. They call this reunification. Likely she would have to show that she can support them without living with her mom and that she is clean no drugs.
It sounds like these kids need an advocate. They don't have a good home life. Do what you feel is right! God bless!
2007-03-11 00:06:05 · answer #1 · answered by The OTHER Boelyn Chic 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In most cases CPS won't remove kids from a home where they're receiving adequate care. The system is so backlogged they just can't. If your mother and SIL are taking care of the kids then the only way you're going to get them is if your sister and their father give them up to you. They may assign a case worker to follow up on her but as long as your nieces are getting cared for by someone there's not much they can do.
If enough of your family are tired by the situation your best bet may be to have a family intervention. But you could make your sister so angry she takes the girls and leaves.
About the only thing you can do other than a big court battle is to step in whenever you can and be their aunt and help your mom and SIL.
2007-03-11 10:30:30 · answer #2 · answered by Critter 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your heart is in the right place. All you can do is watch over them, take care of them the best you can. By allowing her to stay there, you are enabling her to be dependent and she will never stand on her own two feet. If you call child services on her, they could take the kids away and they could be placed in a worse place. So be very careful of the steps you take.
2007-03-10 23:47:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
First things first, report this situation to Family Services and take it from there. They will not look on her having them sleep on the floor as a good thing. While they're investigating that situation, maybe they will stumble on the drug situation.
PS I feel for you. my SIL is irresponsible, too.
2007-03-11 03:38:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋