Morpheus1967
Junior Member
State of Ohio
Summit County
Sorry so long, wanted to give as much info as possible...
Hello. My wife and I are currently taking care of our granddaughter. It is her granddaughter biologically, mine by marriage. We have been married 9 years, our granddaughter is 6. I will refer to the parent in question as "our daughter", even though she is my step-daughter. The father has not seen the child for nearly 5 years, no contact, no child support even though it is court ordered. I believe he served a jail stint for non-payment of child support very recently.
Back story: In November of 2014, our daughter moved from Florida to Ohio. The original plan was for her and our granddaughter to live with us while she got back on her feet. They showed up at our door with literally what they could fit in a Ford Fusion. Literally no money at all. The following day, mother and daughter had a talk, in our daughter said that she needed us to take the child, and care for it, and that she wanted to move to Dayton (3-1/2 hours away) to try and get a job down there, and an apartment. She also stated that she "could not take care of the child", had thoughts of hurting herself, and basically could not be a mother to her. We agreed to care for the child on several conditions:
1. We needed power of attorney (she went the next day and it was granted to us. We paid for it.)
2. She agrees to leave the child with us until at least the end of the school year. (This is her third school this year.)
3. She keep us informed as to her job/living situation, and to keep in touch with the child.
4. She keeps us informed on where she is staying.
I had to give her $50 just so she had money for gas to get to where she was going.
In February of this, frustrated with her lack of progress (she had a job that lasted 12 days and got fired, and still did not have an address) we told her she needed to move back up here with us. She reluctantly agreed, and moved back. We supported her for about a month, until she got a job. With her first paycheck, she left for the weekend and went back to Dayton. She admitted to us that she used a portion of her money to buy marijuana. After another 2 weeks of her living with us, the tension became too much, and we mutually agreed that our daughter would move out. Our goal was for her to stay up here, as she had just received a $4800 tax refund, and she was working. Instead, she moved back to Dayton, and per our agreement, we made her leave the grandchild with us to finish the year. And she never offered a dime for the care of the child.
Our power of attorney ends in November. The daughter says she has a job (Taco Bell) and is moving into her apartment on 3/20/15. However, she will not give us an address, or even an apartment complex of where it is. She only sporadically returns our calls or texts. We have also heard that once the school year is over, she is going to send the grand daughter to live with an ex-boyfriend in Florida for the summer.
My question is this. My wife and I both feel it is in our granddaughters best interest to stay with us. I know we will be facing an uphill battle with her mom, but my feeling is we are going to have to try and get custody. We would definitely adopt her. Ever since our daughter left, I have been logging the daily communication (or lack thereof) with our daughter. Is there anything else we should be doing?
Summit County
Sorry so long, wanted to give as much info as possible...
Hello. My wife and I are currently taking care of our granddaughter. It is her granddaughter biologically, mine by marriage. We have been married 9 years, our granddaughter is 6. I will refer to the parent in question as "our daughter", even though she is my step-daughter. The father has not seen the child for nearly 5 years, no contact, no child support even though it is court ordered. I believe he served a jail stint for non-payment of child support very recently.
Back story: In November of 2014, our daughter moved from Florida to Ohio. The original plan was for her and our granddaughter to live with us while she got back on her feet. They showed up at our door with literally what they could fit in a Ford Fusion. Literally no money at all. The following day, mother and daughter had a talk, in our daughter said that she needed us to take the child, and care for it, and that she wanted to move to Dayton (3-1/2 hours away) to try and get a job down there, and an apartment. She also stated that she "could not take care of the child", had thoughts of hurting herself, and basically could not be a mother to her. We agreed to care for the child on several conditions:
1. We needed power of attorney (she went the next day and it was granted to us. We paid for it.)
2. She agrees to leave the child with us until at least the end of the school year. (This is her third school this year.)
3. She keep us informed as to her job/living situation, and to keep in touch with the child.
4. She keeps us informed on where she is staying.
I had to give her $50 just so she had money for gas to get to where she was going.
In February of this, frustrated with her lack of progress (she had a job that lasted 12 days and got fired, and still did not have an address) we told her she needed to move back up here with us. She reluctantly agreed, and moved back. We supported her for about a month, until she got a job. With her first paycheck, she left for the weekend and went back to Dayton. She admitted to us that she used a portion of her money to buy marijuana. After another 2 weeks of her living with us, the tension became too much, and we mutually agreed that our daughter would move out. Our goal was for her to stay up here, as she had just received a $4800 tax refund, and she was working. Instead, she moved back to Dayton, and per our agreement, we made her leave the grandchild with us to finish the year. And she never offered a dime for the care of the child.
Our power of attorney ends in November. The daughter says she has a job (Taco Bell) and is moving into her apartment on 3/20/15. However, she will not give us an address, or even an apartment complex of where it is. She only sporadically returns our calls or texts. We have also heard that once the school year is over, she is going to send the grand daughter to live with an ex-boyfriend in Florida for the summer.
My question is this. My wife and I both feel it is in our granddaughters best interest to stay with us. I know we will be facing an uphill battle with her mom, but my feeling is we are going to have to try and get custody. We would definitely adopt her. Ever since our daughter left, I have been logging the daily communication (or lack thereof) with our daughter. Is there anything else we should be doing?