I am a Foster Parent and have had my foster child for almost 2 years. Do I have any legal rights as a foster parent?
Thank you everyone for your repsonses. Our now 2 1/2 year old foster daughter has been reunified with her birth mother, who also has 3 other children, and is a single Mom. We have kept in contact and have had our foster daughter back for a couple weekends. We will have her and her younger sister this coming weekend. Whenever she leaves us it is always emotional. She says "Mommy I want to stay with you". It's heartwrenching, but for the time we have together it's worth all the sadness. I hope that we will always remain connected. We're just licking our wounds and thanking God for the gift we were given for 2+ years. We plan to Foster to adopt again. As soon as we get past the strong loyalty we have to our our foster daughter. I'm not sure we ever will.
I am a foster parent aS well. Are you working with an organization? We are working with Jafco in South Florida. They will answer any questions you might have.
Since I am not a lawyer, I can't give legal advice, though I work for one, in the field of family law. It is my understanding that there is a case worker, with DCF, that is assigned to your foster child's case. Are you considering adopting the child, if possible?
One place I know where you can get some information is from Heritage Family Preservation Center, Orlando, FL. You do have some legal rights, check your state. The website is ____@____.com.
Dear L.,
As being a 1 time Foster Parent myself. I can tell you from my experience you have no rights. You are only providing a safe shelter, love and caring to the child til the birth parents either get her or him back or possibly terminate their parental rights. Maybe paternal gradparents could get the child as well. That's what happened with my child. Maybe once that is done, you might have a chance in Court to adopt her. ( Where parents terminate their rights)
I would call the Foster Child Agency and see what they say.
Keep me posted.
Sincerely,
G. H.
As a paralegal, I cannot offer you legal advice...However, after doing a brief search, the following sources might provide you with some answers:
www.nysccc.org/Conferences/Conf2005/LegalInsight.htm
www.nolo.com/definition.cfm/Term/1F9D5342-B###-###-####-A...
www.dcf.state.fl.us/publications/eforms/i175-67.pdf
Hope this helps.
