Termination of Parental Rights for Non-Compliance With a Reunification Plan

[Dogmatique]

My question involves child abuse or neglect in the State of: Pennsylvania



Back in November, Doris's dog bit her hand very badly. After a neighbor called CPS, her two daughters (9 & 13) were taken and placed with foster parents. Initially CPS gave her a choice - your dog or your kids. Pick one. You're not having both.

For some bizarre reason, Doris still has the dog. She has a TPR hearing coming up in June, the GAL is recommending TPR and the foster parents wish to adopt. The father is included in the TPR proceeding.

Doris does have a sketchy criminal history - felony theft, a couple of bad check/theft misdemeanors, dating from 2008 to 2013.

Doris also believes that because her neighbor works for CPS (as a file clerk....) , that they've all conspired to take away her kids. She cannot understand why the dog has to go - her theory being "He only bit ME...he's great with the kids".

From what I can gather, the State has done nothing wrong here and simply followed their own (very clear) rules. Doris thinks otherwise.

Essentially, Doris is asking "can they really do that?"

It's an obvious one...isn't it?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Yes, it is.

It appears that Doris would rather have her dog than her children.

[Dogmatique]

Thanks, MrKIA.

People are odd, sometimes.

[Dogmatique]

1. Granted I no longer live in PA, but yeah - seems a bit "off" to me, too.

2. Statutorily, there is no set-in-stone time-frame if/when the parent/s make it clear there will be no compliance or in other exceptional circumstances (this appears to be one). Otherwise (off the top of my head) it can be 6 or 12 months. In this one, she has her final hearing mid-June indicating that this isn't the beginning of the process.

3. I realize that this is a second hand post (and that can be frowned upon), but yeah - something is rotten in Denmark (so to speak).

I dunno. For me it's a no-brainer...you're given a choice between kids or dog, it's almost a 'duh...' question, y'know? She's desperately asking for some sort of help but it's hard giving her general information (an attorney I am not) when I get half-assed answers.

In any event, thank you again

[llworking]

1. Granted I no longer live in PA, but yeah - seems a bit "off" to me, too.

2. Statutorily, there is no set-in-stone time-frame if/when the parent/s make it clear there will be no compliance or in other exceptional circumstances (this appears to be one). Otherwise (off the top of my head) it can be 6 or 12 months. In this one, she has her final hearing mid-June indicating that this isn't the beginning of the process.

3. I realize that this is a second hand post (and that can be frowned upon), but yeah - something is rotten in Denmark (so to speak).

I dunno. For me it's a no-brainer...you're given a choice between kids or dog, it's almost a 'duh...' question, y'know? She's desperately asking for some sort of help but it's hard giving her general information (an attorney I am not) when I get half-assed answers.

In any event, thank you again

It seems "off" to me too unless there is more to the story than Doris is telling...or Doris is in denial. I can think of several different scenarios...ie, neighbor hates/is scared of the dog, used Doris getting bit as an excuse to get CPS involved to force the removal of the dog, Doris just cannot believe that its gone this far and therefore has buried her head in the sand. Also, look at the ages of the children. They are not easily adoptable babies. The speed of this whole thing is odd.

[Mr. Knowitall]

It's safe to say that there's a lot more to the story than we've heard so far. We may have all of the information that Dogmatique knows, but there's going to be a history, and likely a much longer period of protective services involvement.