Nothing New at Court

So the little ones had court yesterday for a permanency hearing. What a mess! This was the first time I’ve been to court with them and not gone before the judge, instead the hearing was before the magistrate as most other CYS cases. The county case worker gave testimony of bio mom not attending scheduled meetings or coming an hour late and not following up. The magistrate discussed all the things that needed to be completed before reunification could be considered and how little to nothing had been done. I had to interject at one point about paperwork not being signed for Chica Marie to attend therapy. The bio mom’s lawyer focused more on the dysfunction of the system and the lack of knowledge the new county case worker seemed to have, versus the issues of the bio mom not completed the mandated things she needed to do. There was heated discussion regarding why Love Bug wasn’t having visits when there was no professional, therapeutic evidence that he was being traumatized, as the case worker indicated. Never mind the persistent documentation by the case workers who facilitated the visits, stating how the baby, even at a young age, would howl nearly the entire duration of the visit. I wanted to recommend they put the bio mom and baby in a room together and see for themselves how he reacts. The lawyer wanted to know where the baby’s trauma came from, sort of trying to imply that it must come from his current setting, meaning my home, and not the visits. Or from the fact that he was “ripped away from his mother right after being born.” In the end, nothing was really decided, other than that another permanency meeting would take place in December. Visits were not reinstated. The bio mom was supposed to take a urine sample immediately after the court hearing and also sign the release for the therapy. The CHOR case worker said she overheard the mom telling her lawyer she couldn’t take a urine test that day because of certain medication she was taking. To me, she looked high. I also suspect she might be expecting again. She was wearing a dress with an empire waist, so any small bump would be hidden, but I caught her rubbing her stomach and noticed it seemed distended. I am most likely reading into things, but honestly, nothing would surprise me.

As we were walking into the services center yesterday for court, the bio mom called out from  behind us and so we walked in together and rode the elevator to the 11^th floor. She gave Chica Marie junk food and tried to hold Love Bug before her lawyer arrived and called her away. At that point I was ushered back into the playroom where the older sister was waiting. She was so happy to see Chica Marie and Love Bug, she picked Chica Marie up and carried her around the room. There was a case worker or assistant (she never introduced herself) who wanted to take pictures of the kids, who were not cooperating. The sister wanted desperately to hold Love Bug and got upset when he would react by clinging to me and crying when she tried. “He doesn’t know me anymore,” she lamented and then began to cry. I felt so bad for her, knowing she had been moved again. I asked if I could give her a hug and told her I had some things in the car to give her from the birthday party. I said we would like to have her come visit whenever that became possible then gave her a tissue and was called off to court. I discovered, during the proceedings that the sister had made allegations against her foster family and so was removed. She told me she is living back in town again, rather than 45 minutes away as before. I also discovered that the girls came into care in January of 2014. It was mentioned that they have been in care for over 15 of the last 18 months and that a petition was filed to terminate parental rights.

So, it was an insane morning, followed by a crazy afternoon at work and helping Primero deal with issues at his summer camp plus getting braces. I’m really looking forward to the weekend and hopefully some rest and relaxation!