What is the name of your state? Ohio
I have 2 boys, 6 & 8 who are 2nd cousins by marriage. Their grandparents begged me to take them over 2 years ago. They had been in foster care prior to my home. They were neglected and dependant children. They have an older sister (who lives with uncle) and younger brother (who lives with aunt). The biological parents are drug abusers and could care less about the kids.
The other relatives and I were given "full discretion as to where, when, how and even IF visits were to take place". There was an order for mother to have supervised visits at her parent's home. Those didn't work out. Father was given supervised visits at a paid professional center. He has never set it up, and hasn't seen the kids in almost 2 years.
Mother took us to court for unsupervised visits. Magistrate ordered paid professional supervised visits pending the outcome of the case. There were 5 visits scheduled before we went back to court. She missed 2 visits (never bothered to call and cancel), was late for the other 3 visits, and on one visit, showed up extremely high on drugs. The supervisor of the visits noticed and put it in her notes for the court. The center cancelled any remaining visits because of her apparent drug use, showing up late, not showing up at all, and she had not made payments for the visits.
We went back to court. Mother never showed up. Father joined the case at some point; he didn't show up either. The magistrate dismissed the case for "failure to prosecute" and said that we revert back to "our discretion".
The kids really have no desire to see mother or father. They call them by their first names. They want us to adopt them and they want our last names. We all feel this is proper because of the lack of interest of the parents. Also, these children are trying to move on with their lives. This would be in their best interests. Both parents are still on drugs---among other issues. Both have yet to comply with the guidelines set by Children's Services. They are nearly 3 years non-compliant with the case plan.
How do we go about getting Permanent Custody? After that is achieved, how, then, do we adopt? We all feel that this would be the best time to petition the court.
Thanks!!
I have 2 boys, 6 & 8 who are 2nd cousins by marriage. Their grandparents begged me to take them over 2 years ago. They had been in foster care prior to my home. They were neglected and dependant children. They have an older sister (who lives with uncle) and younger brother (who lives with aunt). The biological parents are drug abusers and could care less about the kids.
The other relatives and I were given "full discretion as to where, when, how and even IF visits were to take place". There was an order for mother to have supervised visits at her parent's home. Those didn't work out. Father was given supervised visits at a paid professional center. He has never set it up, and hasn't seen the kids in almost 2 years.
Mother took us to court for unsupervised visits. Magistrate ordered paid professional supervised visits pending the outcome of the case. There were 5 visits scheduled before we went back to court. She missed 2 visits (never bothered to call and cancel), was late for the other 3 visits, and on one visit, showed up extremely high on drugs. The supervisor of the visits noticed and put it in her notes for the court. The center cancelled any remaining visits because of her apparent drug use, showing up late, not showing up at all, and she had not made payments for the visits.
We went back to court. Mother never showed up. Father joined the case at some point; he didn't show up either. The magistrate dismissed the case for "failure to prosecute" and said that we revert back to "our discretion".
The kids really have no desire to see mother or father. They call them by their first names. They want us to adopt them and they want our last names. We all feel this is proper because of the lack of interest of the parents. Also, these children are trying to move on with their lives. This would be in their best interests. Both parents are still on drugs---among other issues. Both have yet to comply with the guidelines set by Children's Services. They are nearly 3 years non-compliant with the case plan.
How do we go about getting Permanent Custody? After that is achieved, how, then, do we adopt? We all feel that this would be the best time to petition the court.
Thanks!!
