Got some good news yesterday

Lil J's case worker has changed yet again. this is number 3 since march.

Short Story:
Spoke to new CW, she will recommend adoption at the 10 month review!

Long Story:
I spoke to the new worker yesterday and went over some of the case details. There has been a lot going on with his mom and wanted to make sure we were on the same page.

In our state, each case has to be reviewed at the 10 month mark and it the actual plan for the child must be on record. Lil J has been in care since Feb (with us since march) so, 10 months would be Dec.

In our state, there could be 3 possible plans indicated:

1 - reunification. After this review, the child would make the transition to go back home. In this case, it is CLEAR that the bio parent(s) have done everything they can and followed all the rules, etc, etc, and there is no question that the child would be best if returned.

2 - concurrent planning. In this case, bios may have done some of their things, but still need more time to do everything. the caseworker may be unsure if the child will be returned to the bios.

3 - Adoption. this can be the plan for several reasons. If the bios have done nothing and basically abandoned their child (have not visited and have not contacted caseworkers). the bios could be doing a very small part of their court order and the worker feels a though they will not do anything (or enough) to get the kids back. There can be changes in the case that make reunification difficult. The caseworker is pretty sure that the kids will not go back

But, just because adoption is "declared', it does not mean that the bios still can't work their plan. but they would have to do a lot in a short amt of time. time lines get extended all the time.

Well - the 10 months is in December and his case worker is going to recommend adoption. His mom has not only NOT been following her court order at all (except for visits), but she has gotten herself into additional legal trouble (pretty bad stuff) . All of these things kinda only point in one way.

The caseworker explained this to his mom, told her that adoption was going to be her recommendation, etc, etc. the mom seemed indifferent about it. She also has been down this road 2x before, so it is not like she does not know how the system works.

So, yay for us! The CW had to confirm that we are interested in adopting him. Because if we weren't then after the review, he would be moved to a pre-adoptive home. Of course it will still be a very long while. But, we are excited (for us) that things might go towards adoption.

I do feel bad for his mom, she has some really serious issues in her life, issues that are never good for anyone.