Severancing Foster Parents

Severancing a parent’s rights is a process and the case could take some time, anywhere from a few months to years. Each case maybe different and handled differently, depending on the circumstances that a case be filed for severance. It also depends on the Judge assigned to the case on how the case will proceed. When a person is a foster parent and is looking to adopt the child that they are caring for, such as myself, the process could be extremely stressful and aggravating at times. Even more so when the foster parent is acquainted with the biological parent and recognizes that the biological parent is incapable of caring for a child. The state must follow a process before severancing a parent’s rights to a child to substantiate that the parent …show more content…
With the case regarding my foster daughter, the Mother’s rights were severed from three of her children and a year and four months later she had my foster daughter. Her state of mind is still the same as when the previous case was being processed. Therefore her rights should be severed from my foster daughter. However, the Judge assigned to the case can make all of the difference, especially when they prefer family reunification over severance and states in court that she will be retired before a decision is made on this …show more content…
Each case is different and handled differently, therefore “the level of services provided to a family is determined on a case by case basis and/or by court determination, some services that may be provided to families involved with DCS after the initial investigation are: Day Care, Parent Aide, Medical and Psychological Examinations and Evaluations, Shelter Care, Counseling, and other administrative and support services” (“A Guide to Department of Child Safety (DCS).”). The parents can benefit from the services being provided, as long as they are attending the services and paying attention to what is being said. In the beginning of my foster daughter’s case the biological Mother was not taking advantage of the services that were being provided to her. Now, eight months into the process, the biological Mother is attending all services being provided to her. D.C.S. had a psychiatric evaluation done on her with the case of my nieces and nephew and were moving forward with the same psychiatric evaluation in this case for the reason that the psychiatrist had informed D.C.S. that there would be no changes to her mental state. The biological Mother and her attorney have now requested for a new psychiatric evaluation to be done with a different psychiatrist due to Mother being on A.D.H.D. medication. The Attorney General is to find out from the psychiatrist if there would be a