What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
I am the biological father of an 8 year old daughter. In 2003 the parental rights of her mother were involuntarily taken, and her mother has been out of the picture since. Also in 2003, I was coerced into voluntarily surrendering my rights by my sister, who worked at an adoption agency at the time, and subsequently adopted my daughter. I was never acused of any wrongdoing to my daughter, and I have no criminal history other than a misdemeanor marijuana charge from the 90's. When signing the surrenders, I was not given right to counsel, or notice of any hearings, and my sister told me that I would still be allowed to see my daughter and work on getting her back. Yes, I know now that I have NO rights to her.
My wife, younger daughter and I have been able to maintain a relationship with her since late 2004, until this past December when some more issues came to my attention. DCF was called in 2006 because my sister had left my daughter to live with my mother and half brother (my daughter's grandma & uncle). She has given them "unofficial custody". It was a horrible abusive/neglectful situation. They had a pitbull which had basically ripped my daughter's face off sleeping in the same room with her. She had been sleeping in bed with the uncle, with the door locked, and he had pornography all over his room (DCF found this all to be true). The house was in deplorable condition, they had numerous cats and rabbits in cages (a 2 bedroom apartment), feces and rotting food everywhere, etc. So they took my daughter back to my sister's home (adoptive mother) and told her she needed to stay with her, not be at grandma's unsupervised, be in her own bed, etc. DCF then left it alone, and she was shortly returned to grandma's.
Grandma pays all the bills and "cares" for my daughter while my sister collects SSI (my daughter has mild FAS) and other benefits. To get to the point, I went to visit for Christmas and found my daughter in the same situation, only now my sister has moved into the 2 bedroom apartment with her other 2 daughters, making 6 people living in this mess, and maybe 3 beds in the house. To add to the mix, another uncle who was staying there was arrested for child porn. I have been calling lawyers since that visit, to see if there is anything I can do on the legal side of it to get my daughter back, since I feel that DCF failed me last time and I didnt want to go through that again, or be accused of making false reports since I havent been to the home in a few months and by some miracle of God they might have cleaned it up.
Anyway, I told one attorney I have been speaking to regularly about the situation. She said she felt it would be best for her to call DCF and I agreed. Yesterday afternoon a DCF investigator went to the home with the police and removed all of the children. My brother also sent death threats to my wife and myself via text message. Today I have learned of an emergency shelter hearing, and my attorney said it would be best for me to go. I am looking for any other advice on what I should do at this hearing, I do have a 100% stable home with an extra bedroom & bed for my daughter, and a totally clean record. I have heard conflicting stories on whether or not DCF will place my daughter with me due to voluntarily signing the TPR. She has no other family members to go to and I have an established relationship with her as her uncle.
My mom's name is on their lease and I dont think my sister has anywhere else to go, so will this alone prevent the children from being placed with her? Also, my sister's 2 bio children- oldest child's father was also coerced into surrendering rights to her, she is now 17, he is also trying to get her placed with him, youngest child's father has been trying to get full custody of her anyway, and still has rights to her. So all children have a family member willing to take them. Any advice before I go to court? It would be greatly appreciated and really help these kids out so they dont get put back in the same situation.
I am the biological father of an 8 year old daughter. In 2003 the parental rights of her mother were involuntarily taken, and her mother has been out of the picture since. Also in 2003, I was coerced into voluntarily surrendering my rights by my sister, who worked at an adoption agency at the time, and subsequently adopted my daughter. I was never acused of any wrongdoing to my daughter, and I have no criminal history other than a misdemeanor marijuana charge from the 90's. When signing the surrenders, I was not given right to counsel, or notice of any hearings, and my sister told me that I would still be allowed to see my daughter and work on getting her back. Yes, I know now that I have NO rights to her.
My wife, younger daughter and I have been able to maintain a relationship with her since late 2004, until this past December when some more issues came to my attention. DCF was called in 2006 because my sister had left my daughter to live with my mother and half brother (my daughter's grandma & uncle). She has given them "unofficial custody". It was a horrible abusive/neglectful situation. They had a pitbull which had basically ripped my daughter's face off sleeping in the same room with her. She had been sleeping in bed with the uncle, with the door locked, and he had pornography all over his room (DCF found this all to be true). The house was in deplorable condition, they had numerous cats and rabbits in cages (a 2 bedroom apartment), feces and rotting food everywhere, etc. So they took my daughter back to my sister's home (adoptive mother) and told her she needed to stay with her, not be at grandma's unsupervised, be in her own bed, etc. DCF then left it alone, and she was shortly returned to grandma's.
Grandma pays all the bills and "cares" for my daughter while my sister collects SSI (my daughter has mild FAS) and other benefits. To get to the point, I went to visit for Christmas and found my daughter in the same situation, only now my sister has moved into the 2 bedroom apartment with her other 2 daughters, making 6 people living in this mess, and maybe 3 beds in the house. To add to the mix, another uncle who was staying there was arrested for child porn. I have been calling lawyers since that visit, to see if there is anything I can do on the legal side of it to get my daughter back, since I feel that DCF failed me last time and I didnt want to go through that again, or be accused of making false reports since I havent been to the home in a few months and by some miracle of God they might have cleaned it up.
Anyway, I told one attorney I have been speaking to regularly about the situation. She said she felt it would be best for her to call DCF and I agreed. Yesterday afternoon a DCF investigator went to the home with the police and removed all of the children. My brother also sent death threats to my wife and myself via text message. Today I have learned of an emergency shelter hearing, and my attorney said it would be best for me to go. I am looking for any other advice on what I should do at this hearing, I do have a 100% stable home with an extra bedroom & bed for my daughter, and a totally clean record. I have heard conflicting stories on whether or not DCF will place my daughter with me due to voluntarily signing the TPR. She has no other family members to go to and I have an established relationship with her as her uncle.
My mom's name is on their lease and I dont think my sister has anywhere else to go, so will this alone prevent the children from being placed with her? Also, my sister's 2 bio children- oldest child's father was also coerced into surrendering rights to her, she is now 17, he is also trying to get her placed with him, youngest child's father has been trying to get full custody of her anyway, and still has rights to her. So all children have a family member willing to take them. Any advice before I go to court? It would be greatly appreciated and really help these kids out so they dont get put back in the same situation.
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