“In many states, adoption lawyers are pushing a new legal strategy that forces biological families to compete for custody of their children.” 
-When Foster Parents Don’t Want to Give Back the Baby

I have created this petition for change because it is an issue that my family suffers, eternally.

I know that there are other families out there just like mine who live, silently in grief. The trauma of losing a grandchild (whom is still alive) is not something that grandparents should ever be subjected to.

We are not able to see or speak to our grandchild because she was adopted by a non-relative foster parent- and they have chosen to keep the adoption closed. Our grief will take us out. Our hearts are broken. 

We are the voice of the biological families of children that have been removed from their parents by CPS. 

CPS didn’t contact some of us. 
A “due diligence search for a relative” never happened. 

Some of us arrived to the case a few months in; franticly we passed the background, and the home assessment for relative placement. We were licensed and ASFA approved- the CSW told us to buy a car seat, crib and a stroller..

We awaited placement… the CSW said we would be bringing our grandchild home. 

I don’t think the court knew that our home was approved for placement, the court didn’t know about the several relatives that had been in contact with the CSW- nor did the CSW inform us about any upcoming court hearings. Several relatives came forward; we were all approved for placement- but we were not acknowledged- we had no voice during any of this. The CSW was clearly providing an opportunity for the foster care provider to file as the “DeFacto Guardian” the CSW disregarded our existence, and withheld information about court dates, and how to navigate this situation to keep our family together.
The motives and the needs of the foster care provider were prioritized over the value of the child’s family and origins- the best interest is always in the home of a relative.
We wanted placement, we didn’t ask for visitation. 

We waited, and consistently came to pick up our grandchild for home visits. 
We dedicated four days a week, three hours each day (one of those days being a weekend) ..for two years… We never asked for funding, We didn’t ask for a paycheck, we didn't ask for reimbursement of any kind. 

We asked for our grandchild.

Our bonds formed quickly. It was as if she was starved of this type of connection. our grandchild stood and cried when she realized it was time to leave, knowing she was returning to the foster home. She voiced to us, that she wanted to stay. She didn’t want to go back. 

The days became weeks and the months became two years- Our grandchild was not placed.

Our grandchild was adopted by a non-relative/foster parent. Unbeknownst to us, they were intervening in the case. They filed confidentially, They prevented our child from coming home. 

 

 

 

 

No one told us what was happening. 

We’ve never been through this before.
Once we had the case documents in our hands. We looked it over, and over. But there was nothing we could do, the case closed. The non-relative/foster/adoptive have also closed the adoption. 
We haven’t seen or heard from our granddaughter in 8 years. 

She would be 10 now. 

The research has shown that a childs’ BEST interest is always in the home of a biological relative.

Birth relatives have been given a (death sentence) forced to accept the adoptive placements with strangers  

Meanwhile non-relative, foster parents are given the benefit of raising our young, privately. The Post Adoption Agreement might say whatever it says… however it is not legally binding.
In our situation, the non- relative foster/adoptive parents promised us the world, contact with the child, attending birthday parties, remaining in the child’s life. This was a tactic to discourage us, but we kept fighting. 
Once the Adoption finalized, they cut us off completely. (meaning they’ve closed the adoption). 

All original names of parents and child are changed, birth date and birth place- are changed.
Birth certificates are rewritten. 

Today, there are 18,000 children “available for adoption” in the foster care system. Foster care providers and system connected individuals have access to an online directory; with photographs, sometimes a video of each child.
They can pick which child they want.

It’s kind of like a “build-a-bear”  People are able to pick out a child according to what they’re looking for, age, race, gender, etc. 

There are 2 million “prospective adoptive parents” who have completed a superficial background, and home study just waiting for a newborn baby. They are posing as foster parents, contracted by DCFS. 

This is oppressive, and predatory behavior. 

They are preying upon a vulnerable pregnant woman’s’ unborn child.

We need to bring that number down, way down. These people are not educated, and the system is NOT acting in the way it was intended to. 
CPS is not educated to preform as an adoption agency.

The public needs to know what is happening behind the closed doors of the children's court. These are our children, they are our livelihood.
The future is being dictated by a department of uneducated  & unlicensed social workers- They are running around making harmful decisions, deciding the fate of a family. 
There have been many occasions where these state employee are caught lying, and caught violating the individual rights of parents, and the rights of children: the state employs unqualified people, and has given them way too much intrusive power, and the authority to break the law without repercussions- if parents aren't savvy of their rights- the govt employee will take advantage of any weakness they can find. 

 
Foster care was not intended to be a breeding ground for people to predatorily adopt a child just because the state makes this opportunity available to them through the state. These children already have families- to intervene in custody against the relatives of a child court and win- Only due to the fact that the state happened to place the child in their home.

The foster parent publicly commented on posts in "Adoptive Families" (a Facebook account) during the our open court case.

Adoptive Families: "Did you pursue a specific gender when adopting? If so, why did you want that gender?"

Foster Parent: “After adopting three boys, the next one had to be a girl” 

If this is not a conflict of interest, then I don’t know what is- 
I don’t even understand how they had any business giving their input to the court, isn’t this the CSWs job? Wasn't supervising or managing the case?
Had we known the law better back then- we could have sued the dept. We could have stopped the adoption. Our attorney was useless, over worked, and preoccupied with what he wanted for lunch.
The foster parent in our case was a State employee, this creates a conflict. Im sure they knew they were breaking their own Policy  by keeping my daughter in this type of placement.

The foster parent wanted our baby…Is that why parents are targeted?

We believe that foster care receives too much funding. Educating individuals (foster parents) and whomever have decided that they want to involve themselves in child welfare matters-
the need for having a trauma-informed education is long overdue.

Training of 2000 hours, learning courses should broken down in modules, covering each area of learning separately.
this needs to be a required prerequisite before a state board exam.
This would ONLY need to be completed by a NON RELATIVE FOSTER PARENT, as the challenges differ in regards to the care of a child that is not biologically related.

non-relatives face challenges that are much more complex than adoption within the childs biological family. 
A board certified state exam is necessary:

FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY

of CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. 

Money does not equal love, and a paycheck doesn’t make a family. 

We respectfully suggest that funding for foster care be significantly reduced or eliminated to fund a state board 

Re-evaluate where, and how much, money is spent and we suggest those funds be relocated to changing agency policies, and board exams for foster parents. 

Cease DCFS bids, awards, bonuses that drive incentive into the pockets of  “Foster to adopt” applicants and contractors. 
Cease DCFS bonuses awarded on the basis of a child's’ permanency plan, adoption, or any other plan. 

A monetary incentive used in these contexts encourages DCFS employees to work with bias towards the underpaying option.

We find this unethical, as it does not always align with the best interests of the child. 

Foster parents need eduction to acknowledge what the best interest of the child means.
While a child is in foster care, the goal is always reuniting with biological relatives, that is what the best interest of the child is. 

Foster parents need to respect boundaries and resist unreasonable attachments to children who are NOT available for adoption, and the child may not be deemed “adoptable” by any CSW.
This is a term that should be used by the court. 

Any CSW that is found to provide misinformation to the court, will be removed from DCFS indefinitely, and nationally. 
Any CSW who gives a representation of a child’s to be “adoptable” is also to be removed from DCFS Indefinitely, and nationally. 
The judge is the ONLY person permitted to announce a child’s adoptability. 

CSW are to address the families with dignity and respect.

DCFS employees and “perspective adoptive parents” must complete a brief educational training, annually: ensuring that they are updated to the newest information and policies.
(harm of removal, trauma of foster care, adoption trauma, and how it impacts children at each developmental stage) 

We believe that providing DCFS employees and foster care providers with in depth education and annual training can promote healthier outcomes.
The way that the system is functioning today glamorizes bonuses and rewards for employees to adopt our children, and committing perjury otherwise in order to achieve the desired payoff.

These  system connected people are unlicensed and they are monetizing off of a birth families suffering.

Non-relative foster providers seek placement of children, with motive. This choice could be made because they are infertile, it could be the monthly payments, incentives, it could be for personal reasons, even spiritual reasons. Then there are those who foster for the benefit of humanity.
-Let’s not forget that there are people out there whom you would never imagine, are perpetrators of the worst crimes- behind closed doors. 

Adoption should be about finding a family for a child. Adoption should not be about finding a child for a family.

Adoption should not be considered when the child already has a biological family. 

Our hearts are so big that we love our children’s children- who haven’t even been born yet.

We live to see our tree grow and grow.
But now our tree will never be big enough to shade us in our lifetime.

Don’t take them away from us.

The days come, and they go: and the day no longer has any meaning.

The birth relatives of a child should not grieve the loss of a relative who is alive. This type of grief can be avoided, it’s an infliction of trauma that is all unnecessary. 

People who are infertile should be seeking grief counseling. If they are looking to adopt, there are 18,000 children who are available for adoption. Don’t fight for a child that already has a family.

Adoption is a violent act. 

CPS Social workers, foster parents, adoptive parents, are uneducated-  and they are making choices that affect the rest of a child’s life, and they’re doing it for the wrong reasons. It goes against all morals and values that make a person who they are.

It will continue to happen in the future unless we put an end to it. I am aware that there is no reversing the events that occurred in my situation.
But you can be apart of the reason this practice is dealt with differently.

It has taken the meaning of my life. 

Why am I here. What reason do I have.

When parents are not able to care for their children, For whatever reason from incarceration, death, drug addiction, or any temporary incapacity; “Parental rights” need to automatically be transferred to “family rights”

CPS does not employ individuals that are licensed by the board of behavioral sciences. 

In order to make a decision that affects the life of a child, a parent, and the lives of a grandparent- CPS needs to be educated about how their decisions impact the lives of a child, and a family. 

Give birth relatives placement of a child, as a right that can be exercised any time during an open case; while a child is in foster care with a non-relative. 

A foster care provider who has no biological connection to the child- needs training to address the needs of a child, ethical standards, cultural values - for each developmental stage, appropriate training for interacting with family to facilitate an open adoption, if this is a desired goal of the family, and otherwise, if there is no family available for placement, these standards of training are necessary for the well-being of a child who is in there care. 

A foster care provider who wishes to pursue adoption from foster care must be competent, and accept responsibility to meet standard of child care

Child removal is not a tool to punish families. Whenever there is biological relative available, caseworker assigned must provide the court with this information and make a recommendation for placement. 

Foster care was designed to be temporary- extending a child’s stay in foster care is not appropriate especially when there is an approved, and willing relative that has requested placement of the child.

CPS is not making decisions based off the best interest of a child, in a trauma-informed, family-centered approach.

There are some unfortunate circumstances when there are no family available for placement before the rights of the parent are terminated and the child is adopted.

CPS is not conducting themselves in the ethical professional role that they have been assigned to. A child's family is owed, more rights than the rights of a foster care nonrelative. A Due diligence search for a relative it means get off your butt and investigate. Go knock on doors, pick up the phone, Use the tools that you are given in your position in order to accomplish a task.

 There are circumstances where adoption by a non-relative, foster parent is not in the best interests of a child.

1. Reunification with birth family is possible and in the child's best interest.

2. The child has developed a strong connection with their birth family and a continued plan of adoption would disrupt this stability.

3. The child's cultural or ethnic identity is not being respected or supported in the foster/adoptive home.

4. If the foster /prospective adoptive parent is a non relative, they shall not intervene in a child’s return to a safe and appropriate biological relative’s home. 

5. Removal from foster care may occur at anytime before the termination of parental rights. (Delaying the removal of a foster child using  “the only home the child has ever known” will not be accepted if it is a government created placement).

6. A “government created family” does not rise to the definition of “family” and may not replace the imperative relationship that is formed through that of a biological family. 

7. A biological relative can request placement any time during the open CPS case.

8. A brief assessment of the biological family home, shall be conducted without delay by the department. However, the results of a background check on the applicant birth relative may not necessarily disqualify them, unless offenses related to child abuse are revealed. (If prior unfounded allegations are revealed regarding any household members of the relative home, this will not make invalidate placement)

9. Placement with a biological relative shall not be delayed. A “permanency plan” involving foster parents or non-relatives created in dependency court is a state created relationship, and does not rise to the definition of a “family.”
a state created relationship will not override the interests of natural family members being considered first, and can be exercised at any stage of an open dependency. 

10. An assessment of the psychological needs of the foster parents when a child is removed-  be provided with grief counseling, educational support is necessary when an unrealistic attachment has formed to a foster child. Necessary training is required before placing a replacement child in their home, foster parents need to be educated and understand the emotional needs of children- and how their needs change throughout out their lives. Adoption can negatively affect the child in the long term, especially when a delusional attachment, has formed.

11. Foster/adoptive parents will be provided support through counseling, provided at no cost to the foster parent upon the removal of the foster child.