Update----

I don't know why I'm not used to hiccups in this process yet. We have experienced yet another one. At the family team meeting last Friday, I learned that G's dad tested positive for drugs. He admitted to using drugs recently and said he had used again since the drug screen was given. I was surprised, but a part of me had expected that. I mean G had been coming home smelling pretty funny lately, I'm pretty naive about these things, but not that naive.
So, instead of talking about when G could start his trial home visit, it was decided that visits would go back to being supervised by family. A trial home visit is usually the last step before a case is closed. During this time, the child is with the parents full time, but DCS is still involved and can stop in or do drug screens, etc. whenever they want. The caseworker determined that visits would remain supervised by family until 3 clean drug screens were obtained. I didn't ask what would happen if there weren't clean screens, I guess we will cross that bridge if we get there.
I was disappointed that this case had moved backward. Which is something that surprised me to say. From the start of this case, I didn't want G to be placed with his dad. Like I have said before, he gave me a bad feeling, something just didn't seem right about him. But as things went forward, I got more comfortable with the thought of G going with his dad. I even found myself hoping things worked out so G could go with his dad. The other reason I was disappointed with this set back is, I'm ready for this to be done. We have had G with us for a year now. That is a long time. Not only for us, but for G too. It worries me that the longer this goes on, the harder it will get for him.
The caseworker said something I thought was interesting, she said when it starts getting close to the time when a child will be returning home, the parents will sometimes sabotage the situation so the kids aren't able to come home. It's like the parents become overwhelmed and are afraid they can't do it, so they manipulate the situation in such a way so they have more time before the kids return. I hadn't thought about it, but it did make sense, maybe G's dad was scared about taking care of G full time and panicked. Nathan isn't going for this theory, but I'm still not sure. I guess it doesn't matter what his motivation was for using drugs, he can't have his son home until he's clean, so we will just wait and see.
On a different note, W's mom has now passed 3 consecutive drug screens. After her forth, she will be able to retun to unsupervised visits. I'm not sure how long the caseworker will want to continue those before trying the trial home visit, but my guess is a couple months at least. I am still rooting for W's mom. I really feel like she needs to have her son, and he needs her. I just hope once she gets him home, she will have the strength to do the right thing and surround herself with the right people. Her problem has never been her skills as a mother, it has been her ability to stand up for herself, and consequently W, to make sure the people in her life will treat her and her kids the way any person deserves to be treated. So, we will see, sweet little W could be home by April or May, barring any more hiccups.