I live in OH. My neice lives in KY. She will be 11 yrs old in May.
My mother has had custody of my neice since she was 2 weeks old. My mother has just pleaded guilthy in court to child dependency in KY. They go back for the 2nd hearing in April.
The birth mother now after all of these yrs wants custody of my neice. My neice does not want to live with her birth mother. The birth mother admits she cannot afford the child, her bf hits her younger daughter, her children have been picked up by police and taken to their school because they got lost walking to the school by themselves (they are 9 and 7). Her court appt'd attorney thinks it is time to reunite her with her " family " whom have not been there for years! She doesnt want to even see the people.
My husband and I are the only ones who can afford her, have a nice big enough home, live in a good school district. She is always with us. What are my chances? Can she come to OH from KY?
2007-03-30 10:14:38 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
Oh boy are you in for a ride. First of all contact DHHR and tell them the story. You need to start on a Homestudy ASAP. You also need to call your niece's case worker and tell her that you and your husband are interested in taking her in. MAKE SURE AND DOCUMENT EVERY SINGLE CALL! I can not stress the importance of this. Things are often poorly documented and you wouldn't believe the case workers and social workers with some sort of agenda out there, so cover your butt. Make sure you are having contact with your niece as that looks really good in court. Phone calls, cards, emails, letters, gifts you get the drift.
You must hire an attorney who is very familiar with adoption laws to advocate for you. You also want to hire one that is in KY.
Unfortuantly your niece is 2 years away from being able to say where she wants to live. This is not going to be easy but kudos to you for trying.
God Bless and good luck!
2007-03-30 10:26:24 · answer #1 · answered by The OTHER Boelyn Chic 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your niece is old enough now to talk to the judge and say who she wants to live with. I would get an attorney and have him go to court with you on the next court date so that he can be prepared to file a custody suit since she has admitted she can not afford to have her. I would also get and documents and proof you have of what the other 2 children have been going through. One other thing I would do is to either have your niece see the counselor at her school or get her to see a counselor and have the counselor talk to her and tell him how she feels about the possibility of her having to go live with her real mother that way you can use his report as to what he feels would be best for the child. Placing her back with her mother at the age she is can cause alot of damage if that is not what she wants. I am sure she has been upset with all of this going on and I would be concerned about her stress level and watch her for depression. Young kids hide the depression well but it will reflect in her school work and how she is behaving at school, You might want to talk to her teacher about how things have been going since all of this has started. I am sure that she would be allowed to come to OH if it is in the best interest of the child. I realize since you are in OH it is going to be hard for you to have an attorney present and to get the documents you need but the more you can do now will be better for you in the long run.
Juvenile Laws try and bring families together as long as it is in the best interest of the child. Now if the child doesn't really know her mother and you can prove that the child would be in danger going to live with her mother then you have a really good case. One other thing you can dois to use Net Dective or something of that nature to get any background information on what trouble your sister and her husband have been in. The more you have against them the better chance you and your neice will have to be together.
2007-03-30 17:48:03 · answer #2 · answered by Just Curious 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I don't know but if this is true wasn't they have taking the other children for good
but if you can talk nice to the mother she may lets you have her without a fight going on ,she may think you are better then she is
and feel upset about this take your time talk to the mother and I bet she will lets you have him
2007-03-30 17:20:32 · answer #3 · answered by Linda 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first prove the mother unfit. Document all the abuse and neglect in the home..
2007-03-30 17:26:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋