5 Tips for Foster Parent Advocacy

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1. Expect Mind-Boggling Push-Back.

“Sally” came into your home right out of the hospital, after spending two weeks detoxing from methamphetamine, opiates, and cocaine. For the first three months of her life, Sally could only sleep for 20 minutes at a time before she would wake up, screaming uncontrollably. You brought a recliner chair into her room. You would lay her on your chest when she would wake up and scream. This was the only thing that helped her get back to sleep.

During these first three months, neither parent contacted the Department, neither parent asked to see Sally, and neither parent provided any financial support for Sally.

After three months, Sally began to sleep through the night, but she hardly gained any weight. As the only caregiver attending Sally’s pediatric appointments, you expressed concern about her weight gain, which led to Sally undergoing a swallow test. The results of the swallow test indicated that Sally would need to be fed through a G-Tube, every four hours.

You and your husband decide to split up the shifts between daytime and nighttime. You did all the feedings during the day and your husband did all the feedings during the night.

After six months, Sally passed a swallow test and graduated from the feeding tube. Sally began crawling and reaching her developmental milestone. The legal parents had still not contacted the Department, asked to see Sally, or provided any financial support.

Let Us Know if This is You…

Sally’s Guardian ad litem (GAL) visited Sally one time. Sally’s Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) visited Sally every month.

At the nine-month hearing a paternal relative (Great Aunt) came forward and asked the Court for custody of Sally. You asked the GAL if you could address the Court and explain how that would be very bad for Sally. The GAL said that because you aren’t a party, you can’t address the Court. You asked the DHR Attorney, and she said the same thing. The CASAalso said the same thing.

The Great Aunt filed a petition for custody and asked the Court for a taxpayer funded attorney to represent her. The Court granted that request. The Great Aunt’s new attorney asked the Court to make all non-parties leave the room. That means you. The court agreed.

Before you leave, you get a stroke of boldness and standup and respectfully address the Court. “Your Honor, before I leave may I just say one thing to the Court about Sally and her progress.” The Court responds, “No Ma’am. I’m sorry, you’re not a party. You’re just a foster parent.”

The Unfortunate Too-Often Truth

Now, to anyone with common sense, this is madness. The foster parent in this story has the most reliable and relevant information to provide the fact finder (the Court) than anyone else in the room. The GAL has seen Sally one time. The DHR case worker has seen Sally maybe 6 times. The CASA worker has seen Sally 9 times. The Great Aunt has never seen Sally.

All of these people can be in the Court room, essentially as parties, and to have a voice in shaping the wellbeing of Sally.

Except you, the foster parent. Mind-boggling push-back.

2. Know Your Deadlines.

Relatives First

The juvenile court is required to consider placing the child with relatives, as an alternative to termination of parental rights. J.F.S. III v. Mobile Cnty. Dept. of Human Resources, 38 So.3d 75, 78 (Ala. Civ. App. 2009). The Department has a duty to investigate any relatives. Id. The Department should first attempt to get a list of relatives from the legal parent. See also, Ala. Code § 12-15-308 (f). The Department also performs a search through a system call Accurint, which works like an investigative database.

1st Deadline

If a parent has abandoned their child for 4 months, the juvenile court is not required to consider placing the child with a relative. Ala. Code § 12-15-319(d).

2nd Deadline

If a relative is given notice of the child being in foster care, and the relative does not come forward within 4 months, the juvenile court is not required to consider the relative for placement. Id at (c).

3rd

If the child has been in foster care for 12 of the last 24 months, the Department is required to file a petition to terminate the legal parents’ rights. Ala. Code § 12-15-317(1)(a). There are a few expedient exceptions to that rule, but the Department’s reasons for taking an exception must be clearly documented in the case plan and made available for court review. Id at (2)(b).

4th

After a petition for termination of parental rights has been filed, the next checkpoint in the case is serving all necessary parties. This always means serving the legal parents. Once that happens, the juvenile court has 90 days to complete the trial on termination of parental rights. Ala. Code § 12-15-320(a).

5th

After the juvenile court completes the trial on termination of parental rights, the juvenile court has 30 days to issue its order on whether the parental rights should be terminated. Id.

3. Prepare in advance.

For each of these deadlines, there is a tremendous amount of value a foster parent can add to the advocacy equation. As we discuss in more detail below, the reports that you create as a foster parent can be strategically circulated to key players. Many cases have turned on foster parents being prepared ahead of time to advocate for their children.

Case in Point

One instance of a foster family in South Alabama comes to mind. Jason and Cathy fostered James since birth. He came home to them from the hospital with severe special needs, tied to his mother’s extreme abuse of alcohol and illicit drugs in utero.

Cause

the Department instructed the parents, and ordered by the juvenile court, to attend all of James’ medical appointments. The parents attended only about 10% of the medical appointments. These medical appointments were important, not only because this was a basic parenting role, but also because one of James’ medical conditions was asphyxiating seizures (AS) (a seizure that would cause choking if not properly managed and monitored).

After James had been in care for roughly 9 months, the Department caseworker called an ISP meeting, with the stated goal of moving the legal parents to unsupervised visits. Jason and Cathy believed that not only would this traumatize James because his legal parents had only met him 3 times in 9 months, it could also be fatal to him because his legal parents had not attended the medical appointments to receive training for how to manage an AS incident.

Jason and Cathy decided to prepare for the ISP ahead of time. They called the caseworker to make an appeal for James’ best interest. The caseworker listened but didn’t flinch in her course. They called the GAL, but he didn’t make a commitment one way or the other.

Effect

Jason and Cathy decided to take another approach. They gathered their documentation for all the visitation opportunities the legal parents were given and how many they took advantage of. They did the same thing for medical appointments. Jason and Cathy gathered this information in an affidavit and brought it to the ISP. During the ISP they graciously advocated for James’ best interest and presented their affidavit.

The ISP team did a 180 and decided (against the caseworker) that there would be no unsupervised visits. Because Jason and Cathy prepared in advance, they were able to advocate effectively for James’ best interest, and quite possibly save his life.

Documentation

At the foundation of every prepare-in-advance strategy is documentation. An old proverb sums it up this way: “You can’t stop crazy, but you can document it.” It doesn’t matter if your foster child has been in your home for three weeks or three years, documentation is the starting point for your advocacy.

4. Know your options.

As a foster parent, you know “the case” (aka, your foster child) better than anyone in the room. Especially when the child has been in your home for multiple consecutive months. You know your foster child’s baseline and you know when things look wonky – especially, for example, after visitation with a legal parent who has abused or abandoned the child.

You’ve logged 725 more hours per month with your child than the CASA, GAL, and Caseworker – combined. So, when you voice your opinion and advocate for your foster child and this is brushed aside because you are “nothing more than a babysitter,” the stupidity of that reality can drive you mad.

How to Fight

Do you have options? Yes, you do.

First, let’s look at the whole spectrum of your available options. To do that, we need to categorize those options based on the branch of government. So, back to high school civics class: legislative, executive, and judicial.

 

Legislative

Under the legislative branch, the only options you have are creating and lobbying for changes to statutes that affect your foster child’s situation. This option almost never provides the immediate and time sensitive relief that your foster child needs. However, you can play a lead role in promoting good legislation that solves or improves repeat problems. For example, the PARK Act (Permanency for At-Risk Kids) proposes that foster parents receive mandatory status as a party to the case after the child has been in their home for three months – if the foster parent asks.

Executive

Advocacy for your foster child under the executive branch includes attending ISPs, preparing for and advocating for your foster child’s best interest at ISPs, diplomacy with the DHR case worker, working up the Department’s chain of command when problems arise, and initiating the Department’s conflict resolution process.

Judicial

Under the judicial branch, you have a lot more options. You can ask the Court to let you become a party to the current case before the Court. The formal name for this request is called “Intervention” and in most cases the current case before the court is “dependency.”  Whether a judge grants or denies a foster parents’ request to be a party to the current case is within the discretion of the court – as things currently stand. The PARK Act would change that.

Some courts hit the mark of common sense and virtue by routinely allowing foster parents to intervene. Other court’s do not, treating foster parents as little more than a babysitter. Returning again to the legislative branch, this is why we need legislation that will require a court to allow the foster parent to intervene if the child has been in their home for several consecutive months. The PARK Act seeks to accomplish that goal.

Foster parents can also petition for custody of their foster child. There is a common and sad misconception that foster parents will violate their foster parent agreement with the Department if they hire an attorney and petition for custody of the child in their care. This just isn’t true. We’ve written at length about it. This article is one example.

On the same note, foster parents can petition for termination of the child’s parental rights. A little-known fact is that the Department is required by law to join the foster parents’ petition for termination, unless the Department has documented some really good reasons not to. Ala. Code § 12-15-317.

5. Foster Parent Intervention Even Helps Reunification.

Foster parent intervention is not just useful to achieve permanency through adoption. It also can assist reunification in a way that is as gentle as possible to the foster children. Reunification is the first and most important goal of foster care. When timely pursued and in the best interest of your foster child, the foster parents can have a great impact on the child’s transition for the better.

Transition

Many foster parents are hopeful about a bio family member, but they want to make sure that the children are transitioned well. Transitioning well means that the Department is following their own policy and best practice. The best practice for transitioning a child is gradual over time – and tailored for the individual circumstances.

As a side note, it’s almost always clinically prescribed that the first visits with the relative happen in the presence of the long-time foster parent. This creates a safe place for your foster child to gradually become accustomed to the relative caregiver.

Sometimes, this type of healthy transition can only happen if the foster parent intervenes to become a party to the case.

Transitioning well also means that the natural parents or relative caregivers have as much knowledge about their children as possible. Foster parents have the best information about every aspect of their foster child’s life. What time does the child wake up in the morning? What do they like to eat? What time do they take a nap? What is their favorite toy or stuffed animal for nap time? What their favorite game or book? Who is the child’s medical provider? When was their last appointment? Etc., etc., etc. Ideally, all of this comes up as part of the transition process. Perhaps the foster parent could even create a notebook with all of this relevant information. Ideally, this information would reach the legal parent or relative caregiver.

The sad reality is that many children are transitioned without the benefit of this full sharing of information. Unless a foster parent is a party to the case, they have no recourse to petition the Court to mandate that their foster child transitions well.

Foster Parents Should be Involved Regardless

Foster parents should be part of the conversation regardless of whether they support or oppose reunification. It is always in the child’s best interests for the Court to hear from foster parents. The only way any person is guaranteed to have a voice in court is if they are a party.

For the sake of the children and the natural families they will reunite into, foster parents must have a seat at the table as parties to the juvenile court case.

If you would like help getting your voice in court, give us a call at 334-546-2009.