GAL overstepping his role?

[Ohiogal]

OhioGAL, does the GAL have to be at meetings between the caseworker and the family when going over the revised caseplan?

NO. The GAL is not REQUIRED to be present.

 

[GrandmaOH]

NO. The GAL is not REQUIRED to be present.

Thank you. Whenever the caseworker calls us to set up a meeting to discuss the new caseplan she has written, I will specifically request the GAL not be there. She acted like a different person when he was at the meeting we had 12 days ago, compared to when we talked to her on the phone or our son spoke to her in person. Things went nowhere when he was there, she seemed to defer everything to him so he has continued to thwart CPS fulfilling the 'services' they said they needed to give our grandson.

 

[GrandmaOH]

The director over childrens service spoke with the GAL & the assistant prosecutor, one of the three also spoke to GS's counselor. They all think it is not in GS's best interest for me to talk to the counselor, so they have denied my request to do so.

They all agree GS is lying but refuse to speak to me to get the truth? And I have facts like dr records, or lack of records, that support what I can tell them. I have some school records, among other information, going back to when we got him that could help the counselor.

GS is getting another new caseworker, current one is quitting at the end of next week. I don't know if the new caseplan has ever been written. We're one week shy of the 3 month mark since it was ordered by the judge.

GS has not seen a psychiatrist to re-evaluate his meds as recommended by the psych eval released more than 2 months ago. He has not seen a psychiatrist in more than 3 months, a family doctor is renewing his scripts. Mind you, a doctor who never saw him before 3 months ago.

CPS has stonewalled us for 7 months, 1 week. They can file to take him permanently if he's in their care for 15 months. What is to stop them from continuing to not follow their caseplan for the next 7 months 3 weeks? We've spent over $3800 in lawyer fees, $600 in psych evals for us, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. And CPS said the psych eval on me didn't have all the information, even though it was a full evaluation. We cannot continue to spend money on this with the only end in sight is CPS moving to take him permanently.

We have reason to believe he attempted to run away last night, because no person in their right mind would have given him permission to ride a bike on that particular road especially at the time of day he was reported to be. Person who saw him called Childrens Service in his county of residence. I called the foster family and left a message, they never called back. Our son, GS's father, had called the school earlier in the day to ask how/why he was accessing porn while in school, that would be a reason for him to run.

We are meeting with our lawyer on Monday. We'll see what she thinks we can do.

 

[Ohiogal]

The director over childrens service spoke with the GAL & the assistant prosecutor, one of the three also spoke to GS's counselor. They all think it is not in GS's best interest for me to talk to the counselor, so they have denied my request to do so.

They all agree GS is lying but refuse to speak to me to get the truth? And I have facts like dr records, or lack of records, that support what I can tell them. I have some school records, among other information, going back to when we got him that could help the counselor.

GS is getting another new caseworker, current one is quitting at the end of next week. I don't know if the new caseplan has ever been written. We're one week shy of the 3 month mark since it was ordered by the judge.

GS has not seen a psychiatrist to re-evaluate his meds as recommended by the psych eval released more than 2 months ago. He has not seen a psychiatrist in more than 3 months, a family doctor is renewing his scripts. Mind you, a doctor who never saw him before 3 months ago.

CPS has stonewalled us for 7 months, 1 week. They can file to take him permanently if he's in their care for 15 months. What is to stop them from continuing to not follow their caseplan for the next 7 months 3 weeks? We've spent over $3800 in lawyer fees, $600 in psych evals for us, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. And CPS said the psych eval on me didn't have all the information, even though it was a full evaluation. We cannot continue to spend money on this with the only end in sight is CPS moving to take him permanently.

We have reason to believe he attempted to run away last night, because no person in their right mind would have given him permission to ride a bike on that particular road especially at the time of day he was reported to be. Person who saw him called Childrens Service in his county of residence. I called the foster family and left a message, they never called back. Our son, GS's father, had called the school earlier in the day to ask how/why he was accessing porn while in school, that would be a reason for him to run.

We are meeting with our lawyer on Monday. We'll see what she thinks we can do.

You are wrong about a few things. They can file to take permanent custody if he is in their care for 12 of the last 22 months. Did you apply for appointed counsel or do you earn too much money? Did your attorney file for you to talk to the counselor?

 

[GrandmaOH]

You are wrong about a few things. They can file to take permanent custody if he is in their care for 12 of the last 22 months. Did you apply for appointed counsel or do you earn too much money? Did your attorney file for you to talk to the counselor?

Well darn. They've already taken the last 7 months of his life, and looks like they plan on delaying action on their caseplan with no target date to 'provide services' they said they were going to do when they took him. They're waiting on his counselor to say he's ready for family counseling. But I have to assume the counselor has just heard what he's told her and his foster family, things like saying I called him an '@$$ f-ing b@$tard' , and a 'Worthless piece of $hit' and told him 'he should kill himself', among other things. Each time the GAL or last caseworker talked to him the stories got crazier.

I probably earn too much money for appointed counsel. I'm about 9 years from retirement, I refinanced our farm loan to end when I retire, my husband is in poor health so even with good health insurance I pay about 10 grand for health costs, and I'm socking away as much as possible for retirement, so we don't have a lot of expendable money for the expenses to make CPS do their job. I didn't add in all the expenses to fight CPS, they exceed 4 grand for the last 7 months. I'm concerned that I could spend 40 grand and still not be able to get GS out of foster care and get him the help he needs. My insurance will cover a residential mental health program, but as long as CPS has him, he won't get that help.

The attorney has not filed, she was going to talk to the Assistant prosecutor first, don't know if that happened. I told attorney we're about out of money to fight this. We're going to talk to the lawyer Monday morning to see what we can file to get this moving.

This is tearing us apart to see GS self-destructing and we can't do anything about it.

PS, our custodianship/guardianship(terms seem to be interchangeable in court docs we have) was court ordered in GA as temporary 9 years ago, with our son able to get GS back once he permanently split with the ex, that was the only requirement GA ordered for our son. For CPS to take GS permanently, they'd have to TPR our son & also GS's mother, correct?

 

[Ohiogal]

Well darn. They've already taken the last 7 months of his life, and looks like they plan on delaying action on their caseplan with no target date to 'provide services' they said they were going to do when they took him. They're waiting on his counselor to say he's ready for family counseling. But I have to assume the counselor has just heard what he's told her and his foster family, things like saying I called him an '@$$ f-ing b@$tard' , and a 'Worthless piece of $hit' and told him 'he should kill himself', among other things. Each time the GAL or last caseworker talked to him the stories got crazier.

I probably earn too much money for appointed counsel. I'm about 9 years from retirement, I refinanced our farm loan to end when I retire, my husband is in poor health so even with good health insurance I pay about 10 grand for health costs, and I'm socking away as much as possible for retirement, so we don't have a lot of expendable money for the expenses to make CPS do their job. I didn't add in all the expenses to fight CPS, they exceed 4 grand for the last 7 months. I'm concerned that I could spend 40 grand and still not be able to get GS out of foster care and get him the help he needs. My insurance will cover a residential mental health program, but as long as CPS has him, he won't get that help.

The attorney has not filed, she was going to talk to the Assistant prosecutor first, don't know if that happened. I told attorney we're about out of money to fight this. We're going to talk to the lawyer Monday morning to see what we can file to get this moving.

This is tearing us apart to see GS self-destructing and we can't do anything about it.

PS, our custodianship/guardianship(terms seem to be interchangeable in court docs we have) was court ordered in GA as temporary 9 years ago, with our son able to get GS back once he permanently split with the ex, that was the only requirement GA ordered for our son. For CPS to take GS permanently, they'd have to TPR our son & also GS's mother, correct?

Apply for appointed counsel. Also realize that reasonable efforts to reunify need to be performed by CPS -- that is a requirement in the law -- and they need to prove it. Your attorney SHOULD know this. If not, you are wasting your money.

 

[GrandmaOH]

Attorney will be leaving for vacation soon, doesn't want to file anything until next month. I wrote up a list of my concerns about GS, things we learned after CPS took him combined with things we knew before. These are the things I wanted to give to his counselor, but everyone from the assistant prosecutor down is refusing to allow me to speak to her. So, lawyer spoke to school guidance counselor about those things, now he wants to speak to me. Of course we're back to waiting on the chain of command to decide if I can speak to school guidance counselor. Lawyer & I agree, none of this stuff is shared in writing except between me and lawyer.

CPS is changing the rules of the game, I presume to deflect blame. They claim I've denied them bimonthly home visits. They never asked, but I fail to see why that is required. GS is not home. When they took him they noted on the case plan that he "is in excellent physical health". GAL saw our house, says it's fine. What do they want with home visits without GS here?
CPS was supposed to add our son on the caseplan 3 months ago, he finally got it today.
We still have not been contacted to meet to review it. Our case plan was attached to his. It was never amended as 1st caseworker said he was going to do when he gave it to us on Jan 23. Requirements to use their specified agencies are still listed, agencies that do not take my insurance.

CPS is failing to provide 'services' as specified in the caseplan.
1. They have not provided GS for family counseling (that I had set up before CPS took him) in the 7.5 months they've had him now.
2. It took them 4.5 months to get GS a psych eval, slow but they did finally provide that service.
3. 2 months after the psych eval report was released, CPS is not following the recommendation as specified in caseplan.
4. GS has not seen a psychiatrist in over 4 months. He's on an antidepressant, an antipsychotic, and Benadryl to make him sleep. The place that did the psych eval recommended getting him to a psychiatrist for a med change.
5. The formal semiannual review is now 6 weeks overdue.
6. Caseworker has failed to answer questions relevant to the case. We've not received dr reports since his hospitalization the first week of Jan. We have no school information between Oct 23 and Feb 28. (They act like no one has ever asked for this information!)

I will admit, the GAL catering to GS's whims about seeing/not seeing me is hampering CPS somewhat in providing their promised 'services'.


I did feel our lawyer earned her money today when spoke with the caseworker's supervisor. She told the supervisor, she was very glad she was not the one holding temporary custody of an adolescent male that everyone thought was at risk of harm to himself and/or others and who had made no attempt to follow the psych eval and who was allowing him to spend 4-6 hours five days a week totally unsupervised; she seemed to be a bit unnerved by that and even more so when I added that perhaps they were not really that concerned about it...

If that wasn't so damned chilling, I could enjoy it.

 

[GrandmaOH]

Administrative code requires BOTH PARENTS to be put on the caseplan as well as other things (caselaw and what not).

Ohiogal, do you have a code # handy for this?
Our son got the revised caseplan with his name added. Goal is still listed as reunification with us, the grandparents. Our son was given a supervised visitation schedule, 1 hour/week.
GS's mother was not put on the caseplan. She can see GS(her son) at will, no supervision unless her aunt & uncle supervise(that is where GS is currently placed). GS's mother has no desire to have him live with her.

 

[Ohiogal]

Ohiogal, do you have a code # handy for this?
Our son got the revised caseplan with his name added. Goal is still listed as reunification with us, the grandparents. Our son was given a supervised visitation schedule, 1 hour/week.
GS's mother was not put on the caseplan. She can see GS(her son) at will, no supervision unless her aunt & uncle supervise(that is where GS is currently placed). GS's mother has no desire to have him live with her.

2151.419(A) is regarding reasonable efforts to reunify with family. Having the parents reunify requires case plan. Did they do a bypass that was granted that allows the agency not to engage in reasonable efforts?
5153.16(A)(4), (12), (18) are applicable.
2151.412(A)(1) and OAC 5101:2-38-05(A)

 

[Ohiogal]

Attorney will be leaving for vacation soon, doesn't want to file anything until next month. I wrote up a list of my concerns about GS, things we learned after CPS took him combined with things we knew before. These are the things I wanted to give to his counselor, but everyone from the assistant prosecutor down is refusing to allow me to speak to her. So, lawyer spoke to school guidance counselor about those things, now he wants to speak to me. Of course we're back to waiting on the chain of command to decide if I can speak to school guidance counselor. Lawyer & I agree, none of this stuff is shared in writing except between me and lawyer.

CPS is changing the rules of the game, I presume to deflect blame. They claim I've denied them bimonthly home visits. They never asked, but I fail to see why that is required. GS is not home. When they took him they noted on the case plan that he "is in excellent physical health". GAL saw our house, says it's fine. What do they want with home visits without GS here?
CPS was supposed to add our son on the caseplan 3 months ago, he finally got it today.
We still have not been contacted to meet to review it. Our case plan was attached to his. It was never amended as 1st caseworker said he was going to do when he gave it to us on Jan 23. Requirements to use their specified agencies are still listed, agencies that do not take my insurance.

CPS is failing to provide 'services' as specified in the caseplan.
1. They have not provided GS for family counseling (that I had set up before CPS took him) in the 7.5 months they've had him now.
2. It took them 4.5 months to get GS a psych eval, slow but they did finally provide that service.
3. 2 months after the psych eval report was released, CPS is not following the recommendation as specified in caseplan.
4. GS has not seen a psychiatrist in over 4 months. He's on an antidepressant, an antipsychotic, and Benadryl to make him sleep. The place that did the psych eval recommended getting him to a psychiatrist for a med change.
5. The formal semiannual review is now 6 weeks overdue.
6. Caseworker has failed to answer questions relevant to the case. We've not received dr reports since his hospitalization the first week of Jan. We have no school information between Oct 23 and Feb 28. (They act like no one has ever asked for this information!)

I will admit, the GAL catering to GS's whims about seeing/not seeing me is hampering CPS somewhat in providing their promised 'services'.


I did feel our lawyer earned her money today when spoke with the caseworker's supervisor. She told the supervisor, she was very glad she was not the one holding temporary custody of an adolescent male that everyone thought was at risk of harm to himself and/or others and who had made no attempt to follow the psych eval and who was allowing him to spend 4-6 hours five days a week totally unsupervised; she seemed to be a bit unnerved by that and even more so when I added that perhaps they were not really that concerned about it...

If that wasn't so damned chilling, I could enjoy it.

It is required because THEY HAVE TO DO CONTINUOUS visits with you at home to monitor the situation. You not cooperating is a big problem.

 

[GrandmaOH]

2151.419(A) is regarding reasonable efforts to reunify with family. Having the parents reunify requires case plan. Did they do a bypass that was granted that allows the agency not to engage in reasonable efforts?
5153.16(A)(4), (12), (18) are applicable.
2151.412(A)(1) and OAC 5101:2-38-05(A)

They took him from our custody, so their plan says to reunify with us(grandparents). Our son would like custody but he lives with us.

 

[GrandmaOH]

It is required because THEY HAVE TO DO CONTINUOUS visits with you at home to monitor the situation. You not cooperating is a big problem.

We were not informed they had to do visits at our home. Intake caseworker rushed to take him before speaking to us, or getting another caseworker as I requested to speak with us. She got the courts to allow her to take him the day after the first hospitalization & doctor said he was fine to come home. The requirements on their case plan for us were all based on what GS told them.

What is the purpose of doing home visits when GS is not home? There is no situation with GS to monitor at our home. GS has mental/behaviorial issues that worsened tremendously when CPS took him. Husband & I took a full psych eval with the doctor giving his opinion that we are fully able to take care of GS based on the testing & interviews conducted with us.

 

[Ohiogal]

We were not informed they had to do visits at our home. Intake caseworker rushed to take him before speaking to us, or getting another caseworker as I requested to speak with us. She got the courts to allow her to take him the day after the first hospitalization & doctor said he was fine to come home. The requirements on their case plan for us were all based on what GS told them.

What is the purpose of doing home visits when GS is not home? There is no situation with GS to monitor at our home. GS has mental/behaviorial issues that worsened tremendously when CPS took him. Husband & I took a full psych eval with the doctor giving his opinion that we are fully able to take care of GS based on the testing & interviews conducted with us.

Is your home appropriate? How does the Caseworker know? Has the GAL been able to come to your home? Part of the problem here is that you are not cooperating. The situation at your home concerns the environment for your grandson. But carry on.

 

[GrandmaOH]

Is your home appropriate? How does the Caseworker know? Has the GAL been able to come to your home? Part of the problem here is that you are not cooperating. The situation at your home concerns the environment for your grandson. But carry on.

The GAL was in our home within 1 week of being appointed, I'd have to look at my calendar but I think it was within 2 weeks of CPS taking him. I showed him the normal chores GS had, his bedroom(before I cleaned it but had washed his sheets), he saw our bathroom, kitchen, & rest of the house. Our lawyer said the GAL reported the living situation was fine(my words, I don't remember the exact wording). GAL had no problem with the mess in GS's room, there was no rotting food, no mice, no bugs; and that was the worst room in the house.

GS's physical health is listed as 'excellent' on the caseplan. One of GS's complaints was we made him do 'hours' of chores every day. That would have been impossible considering the amount of afterschool activities he was involved in, by his own choice, and still get enough sleep. He needed a minimum of 9 hours on a regular basis, he got it with maybe 1 exception per week. Now they are drugging him to get him to sleep, he's been getting Benedryl since January to make him sleep.

Ohiogal, have you run into kids with RAD, Reactive Attachment Disorder?

 

[Ohiogal]

The GAL was in our home within 1 week of being appointed, I'd have to look at my calendar but I think it was within 2 weeks of CPS taking him. I showed him the normal chores GS had, his bedroom(before I cleaned it but had washed his sheets), he saw our bathroom, kitchen, & rest of the house. Our lawyer said the GAL reported the living situation was fine(my words, I don't remember the exact wording). GAL had no problem with the mess in GS's room, there was no rotting food, no mice, no bugs; and that was the worst room in the house.

GS's physical health is listed as 'excellent' on the caseplan. One of GS's complaints was we made him do 'hours' of chores every day. That would have been impossible considering the amount of afterschool activities he was involved in, by his own choice, and still get enough sleep. He needed a minimum of 9 hours on a regular basis, he got it with maybe 1 exception per week. Now they are drugging him to get him to sleep, he's been getting Benedryl since January to make him sleep.

Ohiogal, have you run into kids with RAD, Reactive Attachment Disorder?

Yes I have. I have been GAL for quite a few with RAD.