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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    1

    Default Can an Older Sibling Get Custody of Siblings Already in Foster Care

    My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Alabama.

    My two younger siblings are currently with a foster care family after being removed from the home by CPS. They've been in the system, technically, since about June of last year, when their mom signed over custody officially to their aunt who lives next door. The kids never actually left their mom & dad's care until September of last year. I will be 21 next month, have a steady income, car, phone, and have been meeting with their various social workers since I heard they were taken into care. I am wondering if I NEED to get a lawyer of some kind. I will be moving out of state at the same time my siblings will have been in care for a year, which is when they will decide to either give them back to mom or terminate parental (and my) rights. I do not want them in the system and, although the foster parents seem nice, I don't know if they only want to foster or adopt as well. I also do NOT want them back with mom. Will I need a lawyer to plead my case for custody or can I just collect evidence as to why I would be a better caregiver (health insurance, proper furniture/clothing/living space, firm income, etc.)?

    Thank you for any help. I read a lot of questions on here from siblings wanting to get their brothers/sisters away from the parents, but in my case they are already in the system and I'm wondering if that changes things. For reference, they are both so young as to not be verbal yet so they can't state a preference either way.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    27

    Default Re: Can an Older Sibling Step in and Take Custody of Siblings Already in Foster Care

    Have you asked for a kinship placement?
    The longer they're in one foster home, the smaller the chance you have of getting custody because CPS likes to claim it would be too upsetting to move them. Have their parents been compliant with the caseplan? (But believe me, they can be compliant and STILL not get the kids back!) Do they have regular visitation? Has it been stepped up?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: Can an Older Sibling Step in and Take Custody of Siblings Already in Foster Care

    Quote Quoting spellmans
    View Post
    My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Alabama.

    My two younger siblings are currently with a foster care family after being removed from the home by CPS. They've been in the system, technically, since about June of last year, when their mom signed over custody officially to their aunt who lives next door. The kids never actually left their mom & dad's care until September of last year. I will be 21 next month, have a steady income, car, phone, and have been meeting with their various social workers since I heard they were taken into care. I am wondering if I NEED to get a lawyer of some kind. I will be moving out of state at the same time my siblings will have been in care for a year, which is when they will decide to either give them back to mom or terminate parental (and my) rights. I do not want them in the system and, although the foster parents seem nice, I don't know if they only want to foster or adopt as well. I also do NOT want them back with mom. Will I need a lawyer to plead my case for custody or can I just collect evidence as to why I would be a better caregiver (health insurance, proper furniture/clothing/living space, firm income, etc.)?

    Thank you for any help. I read a lot of questions on here from siblings wanting to get their brothers/sisters away from the parents, but in my case they are already in the system and I'm wondering if that changes things. For reference, they are both so young as to not be verbal yet so they can't state a preference either way.
    I think we need to clarify a few things.

    First, if you're moving out of state you're going to have an uphill battle to get the children and take them with you.

    Second, you don't actually have any rights. There are none to terminate.

    Third, we need to know what happened between CPS's intervention and the children not actually being removed from the parents until the fall.

    Actually... you need an attorney. I don't rate your chances highly at all.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Toledo, OH
    Posts
    16,307

    Default Re: Can an Older Sibling Step in and Take Custody of Siblings Already in Foster Care

    Will I need a lawyer to plead my case for custody or can I just collect evidence as to why I would be a better caregiver (health insurance, proper furniture/clothing/living space, firm income, etc.)?
    You most assuredly do need an attorney. Fighting your own parents - or the State - for custody of your siblings is not a DIY proposition. And, as Doggie notes, your intent to move out of state further complicates the matter.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    RTR/WDE
    Posts
    1,724

    Default Re: Can an Older Sibling Get Custody of Siblings Already in Foster Care

    If the children are in Alabama, they are in the custody of DHR, not CPS. Alabama does not have a 'CPS' department.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: Can an Older Sibling Get Custody of Siblings Already in Foster Care

    CS usually does not favor a relative moving out of their ability to control the situation.

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