I will intervene!

We just found out some very disturbing and exciting news from another foster parent. The county case worker should have been telling us all along when the court hearings are so we can be there. Also, after NINETY days of having Baby Grrl in our custody {we have had her with us for FIVE MONTHS}, we have a right to "intervene" and make ourselves a "party" to the case. Plus, we may not even have to hire an attorney to fight for custody of her. This is all so thrilling and upsetting at the same time.

So, why hasn't the case worker been telling us what we have a right to know? Especially when I've been asking, and making it clear that we would be more than willing to adopt Baby Grrl if her parental rights were terminated? I suppose it could be due in part to the fact that this is our first time fostering and we don't know the drill, or the lingo or what to expect. But I have always felt that the County case worker was biased toward the bio mom, and has given her more than the benefit of a doubt, simply because she has called him often and said she wants her kids back. The GAL seems to think she is talking the talk but not walking the walk, and she is the one who told me she has a long, long way to go toward getting her kids back. I cling to that conversation like it's a life preserver. I've learned to take what others tell me could/will happen with a grain of salt, except for what the GAL says. After all, she's not only an attorney, but also the legal guardian of all the children. Nonetheless, she is careful not to make predictions.

There is a part of me that doesn't want to fight it if her bio mom wants her back, and knowing the people involved who may come to find her or us, but the part of me that doesn't want her to get hurt again is much stronger and is going to put up one heck of a fight. I feel the mama bear rising up in me, and I will not just stand by and let this little girl fall through the giant gaping cracks in the notoriously effed up Denver County DHS system. Remind me to blog about how many children died last year who were in kinship placements, thanks to case worker/DHS "oversights".

Maybe the court will decide to throw her back to the wolves and let her birth mom have another chance to protect her {and why hasn't she been charged with Failure to Protect since she is the one who brought her in to the ER with a "cold" anyway?}, but I think it would be unjust at best and tragic at worst.