GAL overstepping his role?

[GrandmaOH]

We're still waiting on CPS to let us know if they are abiding by their case plan. The supervisor wrote a letter 4 weeks ago saying a caseworker would contact us to do the semi-annual review.
We have not been contacted.
I've been writing a letter weekly asking how soon GS will be provided the family counseling in the case plan. If I don't get any response tomorrow I'll send the letter with a signature required.
On May 15th the GAL said he doesn't do much at this stage. Neither he or the caseworker knew if GS had been taken to a psychiatrist as directed by the doctor who did the psych eval. I haven't had any communication with CPS since then, so I don't know if GS has received the medical treatment advised by that doctor. This is how CPS cares for the medical needs of the child.
On or about June 2nd, our lawyer requested permission for me to speak to GS's counselor, that was denied by CPS director and the assistant prosecutor. Our lawyer doesn't even know who the counselor is. But our lawyer did speak to the school counselor who said he'd like to talk to me. She requested CPS for that permission. I called the school counselor yesterday to see if he got that permission. He had not, so he called CPS yesterday. He got the new caseworker and got the OK immediately. She didn't ask her supervisor or anyone else if it was OK. So I saw him today before the new caseworker was told they've been denying me all communication. School counselor has GS pegged, but the best he can do is 'keep him on the radar'.
I did learn from the school counselor that GS did pass all the classes that he did not drop. Despite Ohio laws for schools to provide records to a receiving school, this did not happen for the current school. GS got credit based on 13 weeks at the current school. He was failing or just on the edge of failing based on tests & (missing)homework. His final exams pulled his grades up to passing, one class was just barely, the others were C's or B's. Oh, out of the 13 weeks enrolled, he missed more than 3 weeks. GS never went to school from Nov 25 until Jan 10, I don't know how much he missed between Jan 10 and Feb 22. This is how CPS educates children.

We now have the school counselor and the psychologist we have in place for family counseling both saying it's not right that GS's psych evaluation was done without our input. They had no knowledge of the abuse and neglect he suffered at the hands of his mother and 2 stepmothers before the age of 5. Our son shares responsibility, but extenuating circumstances include 9/11 happening a few months after GS's mom left and GS was being babysat around the clock by the woman who would become step#1. Our son was military and it was a tough time.

Can the GAL be held responsible for not looking after the best interest of the child, in this case medical and educational negligence?

 

[Ohiogal]

We're still waiting on CPS to let us know if they are abiding by their case plan. The supervisor wrote a letter 4 weeks ago saying a caseworker would contact us to do the semi-annual review.
We have not been contacted.
I've been writing a letter weekly asking how soon GS will be provided the family counseling in the case plan. If I don't get any response tomorrow I'll send the letter with a signature required.
On May 15th the GAL said he doesn't do much at this stage. Neither he or the caseworker knew if GS had been taken to a psychiatrist as directed by the doctor who did the psych eval. I haven't had any communication with CPS since then, so I don't know if GS has received the medical treatment advised by that doctor. This is how CPS cares for the medical needs of the child.
On or about June 2nd, our lawyer requested permission for me to speak to GS's counselor, that was denied by CPS director and the assistant prosecutor. Our lawyer doesn't even know who the counselor is. But our lawyer did speak to the school counselor who said he'd like to talk to me. She requested CPS for that permission. I called the school counselor yesterday to see if he got that permission. He had not, so he called CPS yesterday. He got the new caseworker and got the OK immediately. She didn't ask her supervisor or anyone else if it was OK. So I saw him today before the new caseworker was told they've been denying me all communication. School counselor has GS pegged, but the best he can do is 'keep him on the radar'.
I did learn from the school counselor that GS did pass all the classes that he did not drop. Despite Ohio laws for schools to provide records to a receiving school, this did not happen for the current school. GS got credit based on 13 weeks at the current school. He was failing or just on the edge of failing based on tests & (missing)homework. His final exams pulled his grades up to passing, one class was just barely, the others were C's or B's. Oh, out of the 13 weeks enrolled, he missed more than 3 weeks. GS never went to school from Nov 25 until Jan 10, I don't know how much he missed between Jan 10 and Feb 22. This is how CPS educates children.

We now have the school counselor and the psychologist we have in place for family counseling both saying it's not right that GS's psych evaluation was done without our input. They had no knowledge of the abuse and neglect he suffered at the hands of his mother and 2 stepmothers before the age of 5. Our son shares responsibility, but extenuating circumstances include 9/11 happening a few months after GS's mom left and GS was being babysat around the clock by the woman who would become step#1. Our son was military and it was a tough time.

Can the GAL be held responsible for not looking after the best interest of the child, in this case medical and educational negligence?

No. The GAL does not bear responsibility. Why hasn't your lawyer filed for a hearing on you getting access to the records and to force things along? Was your son added to the caseplan yet?

 

[Ladyback1]

On or about June 2nd, our lawyer requested permission for me to speak to GS's counselor, that was denied by CPS director and the assistant prosecutor.

Color me confused, but why is the "assistant prosecutor" involved???

And from where I sit? Your attorney is not earning his/her money. There should be more that YOUR attorney should be doing.

 

[GrandmaOH]

No. The GAL does not bear responsibility. Why hasn't your lawyer filed for a hearing on you getting access to the records and to force things along? Was your son added to the caseplan yet?

Lawyer is on vacation, won't be accessible until July 10th. (Ladyback) The assistant prosecutor is CSP's legal representative, our lawyer thought she would be able to talk to the a.p. and get the permission, that didn't work. Our lawyer didn't want to file anything before she went on vacation. I guess she thought if we go another month like this we'll have a better chance of showing they are not doing anything.

I'm at a loss on what to do. Our lawyer has the best reputation going against CPS in our neighboring county. The local lawyer we consulted with said he doesn't fight them anymore, he just advises to go along with whatever they say. At this point I think the local lawyer was right. We've paid over 4,000, did what the lawyer said, which was to do what was on the case plan before ordered by court, and CPS is on the fast track to taking GS anyway. 4 more months of this crap and they'll probably do it.

Our son is on the caseplan and the new caseworker actually got him a visit 2 weeks ago. Since then GS went on vacation last week and is at camp this week, so no visit again until next week at the earliest. GS's mother is not on the case plan because she does not want GS. She gets to visit him any time she wants because it's her aunt & uncle with placement. Because our son wants custody back, he has to do supervised 1 hour visits whenever CPS can arrange it. The current caseworker said she would place GS with our son except our son lives with us. They won't put GS in our house, and they won't do their caseplan to get him back. CPS circular reasoning.

Does CPS bear responsibility for not getting GS to a psychiatrist to get his meds re-evaluated? Is there any personal liability for that? Or is that probably why they assigned a caseworker who had already turned in her resignation?

 

[Ohiogal]

Color me confused, but why is the "assistant prosecutor" involved???

And from where I sit? Your attorney is not earning his/her money. There should be more that YOUR attorney should be doing.

In Ohio, each county has a prosecutor elected by the people -- everyone under the prosecutor is considered an ASSISTANT or DEPUTY prosecutor. Hence very few IF ANY cases actually have THE prosecuting attorney. I don't think the prosecuting attorney in my county has prosecuted ONE case personally in the last three years.

 

[Ladyback1]

In Ohio, each county has a prosecutor elected by the people -- everyone under the prosecutor is considered an ASSISTANT or DEPUTY prosecutor. Hence very few IF ANY cases actually have THE prosecuting attorney. I don't think the prosecuting attorney in my county has prosecuted ONE case personally in the last three years.

OK...I understand now!
Thank you

 

[Ohiogal]

OK...I understand now!
Thank you

You are welcome.

 

[sprocket454]

The current caseworker said she would place GS with our son except our son lives with us. They won't put GS in our house, and they won't do their caseplan to get him back. CPS circular reasoning.

I've just been reading through all of this and it's probably not my place to jump in, but I've read several times where you have said that GS would be placed with your son except that he lives with you. So I have to ask: With all the money you are spending couldn't you just help your son rent a two bedroom apartment? Then he would be out of your house and the "except" would be gone.

 

[GrandmaOH]

I've just been reading through all of this and it's probably not my place to jump in, but I've read several times where you have said that GS would be placed with your son except that he lives with you. So I have to ask: With all the money you are spending couldn't you just help your son rent a two bedroom apartment? Then he would be out of your house and the "except" would be gone.

We've started looking for places nearby. He did just get hired on at a factory so now he has regular hours and possibility of overtime. That presents another problem, GS needs supervision during the day. He could probably stay with grandpa during the day but the GAL still has the 'no visit' order on me so GAL would probably protest. Another hurdle, GS has become extremely alienated and hateful about me. He lives with his maternal gma & her aunt & aunt's husband. They have denied him all contact with us, to point of taking away his phone when he did try to contact us. The multiple changes in caseworkers has meant NO ONE set up visits for our son & GS until 3 weeks ago, then GS went on vacation & camp, and no one set up a visit for this week because they didn't get a driver arranged in time. His foster placement take him out of state for vacations but refuse to drive 25 miles to let him visit his dad.

But before we overcome all those hurdles, we need to get a court order that GS will be placed with his dad. CPS has lied so much that if they told me the sun was hot I'd call a scientist to confirm it.

 

[GrandmaOH]

OHgal, what happens to the caseworkers when they don't fill out and distribute the JFS 01443 (medical & educational information) as required by OAC 5101:2-38-08? All the things we've been asking for, but denied by CPS, are on the JFS 01443. The law says they are to give this information to the parents/guardians each time there is a change in placement, doctors, etc.

GS's GAL has not received this information. The current school never received the educational records from the last school, either.

 

[Ohiogal]

OHgal, what happens to the caseworkers when they don't fill out and distribute the JFS 01443 (medical & educational information) as required by OAC 5101:2-38-08? All the things we've been asking for, but denied by CPS, are on the JFS 01443. The law says they are to give this information to the parents/guardians each time there is a change in placement, doctors, etc.

GS's GAL has not received this information. The current school never received the educational records from the last school, either.

Your attorney needs to bring it to the court and force the issue.

 

[GrandmaOH]

Well, we got the forms at the SAR but they were lacking information. We were informed in January of additional vaccinations GS was given per CPS requirements, these were not state required. The vaccine record was not updated to include those vaccines. He gained 40 pounds in the last 4-5 months, he was finally taken for a physical 2 days ago. Glucose monitoring has not been done, not even at the physical. The doctor ordered a full blood workup, it will include a glucose test. He has a psychiatrist app't next week to reevaluate his meds, that's 4 months after the recommendation from the psych eval to get him to a psychiatrist. GS's counselor refuses to speak to me because "GS is her client and it would be counterproductive to speak to me". So she does not have an accurate report of his background.

There are no official school records from the first 3 quarters of school. The public school he attended while in the group home never sent them. No medical records are in his file from the two months he was at the group home either. I know he got new glasses while there, he still wears his old ones because the prescription is so close. CPS cancelled his dental app't I had for him in November, I didn't see any record of any dentist app't to replace that one.

Meanwhile, GS went from texting and telling us he wanted home, to now calling me horrible sexually charged names. I'm told he's happy there, he doesn't have to do his schoolwork, he has no chores, his other gma gives him money, an android phone, a Kindle Fire, an Xbox, and the list goes on. Another aunt took him shopping and bought him over $600 of name brand clothing. He plays violent games online with the Xbox, accesses porn with the Kindle Fire(and probably the Xbox). He gets what he wants, or threatens to hurt himself.

Oh, CPS filled out the risk assessment wrongly and gave it a high risk mark. When I called it to the attention of the caseworker she did seem surprised at the detail reported wrongly, but says it's already submitted to the state and she can't change it. So now the state thinks my husband and I have drug & alcohol abuse issues, among other false issues.
The psych eval we had is not adequate because they were given the summary report from the psychologist and he titled it a 'parenting assessment' but summarized the whole test. I asked what more did they need, but she didn't know.
The parenting class I took was not adequate because it was only 8 hours, it was on the list the 2nd caseworker gave me.
Caseworker says she has to come to our house every 2 months despite the GAL reporting no issues with our house. She can't force us to comply, she just won't meet with us and will blame us for no progress on reunification.

I expect our lawyer will get hold of me today and we'll see what we can do.