Safety Plan for sister in law who was on drugs at birth of her child.

My sister in law had a baby back in 2013 and she was on drugs at the time. The child's father ended up with the child via a safety plan issued by the county dfacs due to the inability of my sister in law to pass a drug test. She recently went to a drug rehab facility and has just returned. She is still attending her NA meetings regularly and moving forward to be a productive citizen. The father of the child dropped the child off with her three days ago, along with clothes and bed. He brought all the child's possessions and told my sister in law that he was giving her the child back. What legal steps do we need to take to make sure this is done correctly? The father of the child has willfully given the child up. How does a safety plan work? Is there a hearing? How do we find out if her rights were taken away? She is finally doing better and has changed her life around completely and I would hate to see her spiral back down because of the false hope that she can have her child or the father of the child having some ulterior motive and when it doesn't work he snatches the child back. We are in the state of Georgia.

If she cannot get custody of her child due to the circumstances can the father sign the child over to me and the mother's brother? I understand that she did not choose her children over her addiction, has made many life changes since and there are always repercussions to all actions. I just don't want her to get her hopes up needlessly.

The first thing the "mother" should do is report the matter to DFACS.
Children aren't chattle to be handed off and passed around like kittens, goldfish, or puppies.
If the child(ren) were put in the father's custody by DFACS, and he is unable to care for them, he can't just return them to their mother.
If DFACS had wanted mother to have the children, DFACS would have done it properly via a hearing.

I suggest you advise the mother to IMMEDIATELY contact DFACS and advise the what the father apparently did without DFACS' permission.

When DFACS gets wind of this, repercussions will be swift and severe.

If the mother won't report the father's abandonment of his parental responsibilities, you should do it.
If you do, and you are a stable person, you'll more than likely be awarded temporary or emergency custody until an investigation, followed by a hearing can be conducted.

Good luck.

Thanks so much! I don't want to see the child passed around or left to strangers unless it is best for the child. I do not think it is fair to the child that she has had to endure all these circumstances. I just wanted to make sure my thinking pattern was correct and that everything was done the right way. Thank you again!

worriedaunt1112 said:

Thanks so much! I don't want to see the child passed around or left to strangers unless it is best for the child. I do not think it is fair to the child that she has had to endure all these circumstances. I just wanted to make sure my thinking pattern was correct and that everything was done the right way. Thank you again!

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You're welcome, and I think you'd be a good choice to bring stability and love into the life of that precious, dear child.

Someone definitely needs to contact DFACS. We can't say for sure what they will do in regard to the child but it will be in the best interests of the child. You "might" get temporary custody - can't say for sure.