It is a jarring experience for any family to have a caseworker show up at your home and tell you that he or she is there to remove your children from your home. The reasons can vary widely: drug use, domestic violence, excessive corporal punishment, etc. But what matters most is getting them back. And one thing to keep in mind is that time is most certainly not on your side. As discussed in previous posts, with the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (A.S.F.A) which has been adopted by New York State, courts and state agencies are under strict time constraints as to how long they can allow a child to remain in foster care. As a general rule, any agency that keeps a child in foster care for 15 of the first 22 months following a removal must initiate a termination of parental rights cases. Those agencies that stray out of compliance with that requirement are often quickly pressured by judges and referees of the Family Court to commence those proceedings. Discretion and patience have essentially been factored out of the equation.
The following is not meant as a definitive set of actions you need to take but rather a guideline that will enable you to both get your children back as quickly as possible and to defend yourself should the agency deem it necessary to file a termination of parental rights (or even an abuse or neglect) proceeding against you:
1. Keep a meticulous diary of every interaction with the agency or your child(ren). This will prove vitally important at a trial as it will enable you to testify in great detail what efforts you made to have your child returned and comply with the agency's mandates without having to rely on memory alone.
2. Don't wait for agency representatives to contact you, call them constantly. If they do not return your call promptly, call them back. The caseworker assigned to your case no doubt has many, many cases he or she is dealing with. Be the squeaky wheel.
3. As soon as possible find out what services the agency wants you to engage in and make every effort to engage in those services immediately. Just enrolling in these services can be a daunting challenge but the agency has a affirmative responsibility to assist you with this. Make sure they do.
4. Visit with your children at every opportunity. I know this seems obvious, but most often it is a failure to visit regularly that serves as the primary, or at least one of, the bases to terminate your parental rights. It is no excuse that you had other things to do. Whatever else is going on in your life, even if it involves your services, visiting with your children consistently is vital.
5. Make sure you communicate with your attorney regularly and, in that vein, it is of critical importance that your attorney and the agency have up to date contact information for you.
Understand that while agencies may be quick to remove your child, they are not nearly as quick to return them and if your child has been removed from your home you can expect to have to fight for them to be returned. This means being able to show that you have planned for their return. Planning for your child's return requires, preparation, vigilance and consistency. Following the steps provided above and any others you can come up with, with the assistance of your attorney, will be a great start.
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