My husbands best friend has a little girl who will be 2 in the spring. He has not been with the mother since shortly after her birth. The mother has custody of the girl, while our friend gets her on Saturday morning, and has to give her back on Sunday by 8 pm. Our friend is attempting to gain full custody of the girl, and has been fighting for it for several months.
Recently, a boyfriend of the mothers called CPS on her, because she was doing drugs. CPS tested her, and she failed.
Now, I thought that because she failed it, there would probably be a hearing and custody would go to our friend. But instead, CPS said that they are giving her another test in one week, and if she fails that one, they'll give her a third test. After that third fail is when 'further actions' will take place.
Why does she have to fail drug tests so many times and CPS allows the little girl to remain with her? What do they mean by 'further actions'?
2007-12-06 07:33:16 · 5 answers · asked by Queen Queso 6 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Other - Pregnancy & Parenting
The mother has been doing drugs all her life, and I know that she smoked pot while she was pregnant because I actually walked in on her doing it once. The boyfriend that called CPS also called our friend to say that he had caught her sleeping with strange guys in exchange for hard drugs like meth because she doesn't work at all, so she didn't have money for the drugs.
The little girl gets dropped off at peoples houses and our friend can't find her and sometimes she spends 3 or more nights at our friends house when it's supposed to be the mothers time with her. That's great because he gets to spend time with his girl, but it's a violation of the custody agreement.
The girl has been to the ER for injuries 6 times in the past year for bad burns and cuts that needed staples and treatments. When our friend questions the mom and her family, the stories suspiciously vary and don't quite match up with the wounds.
Why does the court ALWAYS favor the mother, even in cases like this?
2007-12-06 07:43:28 · update #1
If you're just going to say it's none of my business, don't even bother to answer. He comes over here and talks to us about it, so he's sharing his problems with us. Get off your high horse.
He made a bad choice in girlfriends when he was a teenager, and he's paying for it now.
It's not like I'm going to use whatever information I get from this forum to take the girl to court myself or anything, I'm just curious.
2007-12-06 07:57:49 · update #2
Tell the father to go to the court house and file an ex parte protective order on behalf of his daughter. That should get him in front of a judge within two weeks.
He needs to have proof of the child being in the ER so many times and proof of the mother's drug use. Perhaps the mothers ex b/f could go with him to the judge and tell the judge about the mother's drug habit.
If the judge grants the order, the father will get temporary custody immediatly. The cops will go with him to get custody of the child.
There will be a court date set sometime within the next 30 days for the mother to come to court and explain herself.
During that time, the father needs to hire a lawyer and file for permanent custody.
This is the best way to go as CPS give the unfit parent way too many chances and many kids suffer because of it.
Good Luck to you and your friend
2007-12-06 10:45:04 · answer #1 · answered by Willow 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am sure they make her do multiple tests so that she can't just come back at them later and say it was a false positive. This way they are proving that she really does have the drugs in her system.
I don't know what further actions will be though. It could be mandatory rehab or therapy, parenting classes, or maybe taking the child from her custody. I am sure they have a whole policy and sequence of actions they have to follow. Sorry I can't be more help than this.
2007-12-06 07:38:44 · answer #2 · answered by Jess 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
forget cps, they suck! he needs to go directly to the courthouse and file for custody there. once he tells the judge what is going on, the judge will place the child with him, no matter what cps says!
2007-12-06 07:39:19 · answer #3 · answered by blondie 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because the father was stupid enough to have unprotected sex with a woman who has "been doing drugs all her life".
It really is none of your business. Your husband's best friend has made the choices that have lead to this mess. Let him sort it out through the system. Next time maybe he'll think before having sex with a woman who isn't the mothering type.
2007-12-06 07:53:22 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 5⤋
Its because our govt does not properly fund CPS. seriously, its probably more a CPS budgeting/resource reason then anything else. It takes money to have hearings, caseworkers, further actions, etc.
2007-12-06 07:37:53 · answer #5 · answered by lillilou 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋