child placement by CPS, voluntary or court ordered?

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BertoZ

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My sister just had a baby. Right after delivery they did a drug test on her and she was positive for meth. CPS was notified and she was told that the baby would need to be placed out of the home. Due to the lengthy process that myself and my husband have to go through inorder to get the child placed with us, there was the need to (in the interim) place him in foster care. The form that my sister signed giving permission to place the beby in foster care it reads, I agree to.....voluntarily allow CA to place my child in foster care for a time period no longer than six weeks. It also clearly states that this is a voluntary arrangement and that upon request either verbal or written, CA would return the child to her as soon as possible after receiving said request, unless a court order has been issued forbidding the return of the child to the mother. She was never told about any court order being issued for any reason. She is in full compliance with the recommendations of CPS, doing random UA's, got an evaluation and is attending their counseling regiment. So my question is this: Could she, as the form stated, just request to have her son placed with her and CA or CPS would just give him back? Or is the form just a nice way of saying "let's all get along and you do what your suppose to do and when your done and we feel it's safe, we'll give your son back to you. If you cause any waves we'll have to play the old legal card and get a court order and it will be that much longer and harder for you to get your son back." Let me know if I'm way off base here. I really don't have any idea how the process works. It all happened so fast. She delivered, they tested, and then we're talking to CPS and their placing the child in foster care. No one ever talked about the legality of all this. I appreciate any insight anyone can give me on this issue. Thank you in advance for your time.
 
It is perfectly legal for CPS to this and you should be more concerned about the baby than mom. She took a terrible drug while pregnant and that child now is going to suffer the consequences. It is very unlikely she is going to get her baby back in such a short time frame. I am a CASA and my first case was a meth baby. rights were terminated in this case because mom did not want the child at all and refused to follow a case plan. If i had it my way, all moms that gave birth on meth would lose their kids because 90% of the time they go back on the drug. It is extremely serious. This baby now likely has some ill effects of the drug. Tremors and sensitivity to light are just a few, along with low birth weight.

CPS can always go to court and they usually have at least 6 months to develop a case plan. Babies are hardly ever returned back to mom in 6 weeks. Mom needs to prove herself that she is drug free, able to hold a job and take care of the child. Meth is bad news and rarely do mothers that give birth on it ever clean up. After all she did drugs while pregnant, she will certainly do it again not pregnant. See where I am going here?

CPS would be doing a terrible injustice to that baby by giving it back to the mom so soon and they likely will not. Mom needs to follow the case plan and stay clean. You should also do your part to ensure mom is staying clean even when she gets the baby back. You do not even want to know the horror stories of moms on meth that have babies in their care. Sad.

Good luck.
 
I'm not siding with the mom, but in her defence, she did it once in an hour of desperation. She was past her due date, miserably large in the mid area, hadn't had a decent nights sleep in weeks, and everything she ate made her sick. I understand that DOES NOT make it right. She should have never done it at all. Luckily, the baby was born with no complications, at 7lbs, 6 oz, and quote "a good lookin' healthy boy". He doesn't cry unless he's hungry. He smiles and is quite a happy baby.
The mom is not your typical drug addicted, homeless, jobless, loser. She is educated, has no criminal drug history, has a nice suburban home and two daughters who think she's the greatest thing since sliced bread. She is bending over backwards to comply with CPS including 5 clean UA's since the 5th of Jan.
My husband and I hope to do a kinship care for him so he'll be with family and not with some strangers in the failing foster care system.
So I guess my question still is how does all of this unfold from a legal stand point? Legally where does CPS stand? How about the baby? The foster parents? and of course the mom? Also what rights does the mom have if any? Granted she made a horrible choice, a terribly bad judgement call, a boarderline sinful act, but with no prior record, full compliance, no red flags to indicate a relaps, and an overwhelming commitment to her baby, should she be treated like all the other cases? Lumped together with every other case having anything to do with women, meth, and births of babies? I know the statistics, but doesn't everyone deserve to be looked at on an individual basis? Or are we as a society so callused that no one gets a second chance? Is there no such thing as a mistake anymore? I think if there were more support and guidance among people in stead of condemning and out casting we wouldn't see so much reoffending. Let he without sin cast the first stone!!!
At any rate..... I would still be interested in the legal ramifications of this issue. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help.
 
So let me get this straight. Mom used meth so she would go into labor? Are you kidding? That does not sound believable at all and does not make any sense. She should have discussed this with her Dr to see if there is any way laobr can be induced. Highly ignorant choice to make. There is way to even confirm that ridiculous story as 99.9% of moms that give birth on meth are drug addicts. Of course her kids think she is great. Truth is, most children do not want to be placed outside of their home away from their parents even if the home situation is terrible. Are her other 2 kids still in her care? She is lucky she did not have them taken from her. How did she get the meth and who gave it to her? 5 clean UA's since the 5th of Jan is nothing, it has only been less than 3 weeks. If she is clean is 6 months then that is encouraging.

All mom can do at this point is follow the case plan but it has only been a few weeks. She is likely going to have to wait a few months and a judge will probably allow CPS to keep the child a ward of the state. Since she is married and seems to have a husband who hopefully has more common sense, maybe they have a chance of getting the baby back sooner.

By the way, the social system is full of mothers who have been given a second chance. Meth is treated a little differently because it is so highly addictive, and has a 90% relapse rate. Mom may not be so called drug addict but she now has history of making very poor choices, and this is why she needs to be watched and the baby protected.
 
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