We have had the busiest week ever.  We went to court for both boys and got final inspections done on the house.  It has been crazy.

W's court was first.  We have never met his dad before.  He just got out of jail about a month ago, so everyone has pretty much been able to put him out of their minds until now.  Well, since he is out now, DCS is obligated to offer him services.   Some of the things they call services are counseling, groups like anger management or drug programs, and visitation.

Of course this guy wanted to start with visitation.   He insisted that he had never hurt W, that the police were conspiring against him, that the doctor reading the x-rays was not competent, and he was a good, loving father.  Wow.  We met the arresting police officer the night we picked W up in the ER, I think even she was a bit shook up by what she saw in regards to the way this guy "lovingly" held his baby.

So for him to think he was going to get visitation, he has to be nuts!  The CASA has filed a motion asking for visits to be permanently suspended and the caseworker has placed so many steps before visits will be allowed, that he will never get there.  So hopefully that issue has been resolved.

What I was getting to when I mentioned we have never met this guy was-- we saw him when we went to court the other day.  We walked into the big waiting area and there he was talking with the CASA,  I recognized him from his mugshot.  She didn't say anything as we walked by and we just went on past.  The caseworker came out then and told him court had been continued.   I was about to get frustrated when I realized she was only talking to him.  Then I realized she had been careful to only talk to him, not us also.  Just like the CASA had ignored us when we came by.  After he had left the building, the CASA came over and confirmed our suspicions, they didn't want W's dad to know who we were.  She told us she was going to file a motion to keep us out of court any time he would be there.  Then later, the caseworker came out again.  She said basically the same thing.  She said there would be no reason for us to come to the dad's court dates.  She was also going to be careful not to let our address show on any paperwork.   What is unusual about this is, foster parents are usually encouraged to be involved with the parents.  We are expected to be at court dates, come to meetings with the parents, build a relationship with them.  But, this guy is not the typical parent.  He is dangerous.

It makes me a little nervous to know that both DCS and the caseworker have kept this dad from knowing who we are.  This just isn't typical in foster care.  But, I am not too worried about anything happening.  We are far enough from everything that I feel safe.  I will be glad when this case is done though.

Anyway, we did go to court for W's mom.  The plan is still adoption for him.  The possible family placements aren't looking very promising so both the caseworker and the CASA stated they feel W would be best to stay with us as an adoptive placement.  That was good to hear.   Of course, that is still a little ways off.  DCS isn't planning to file termination of rights for another 3 months on the mom.  And it could be at least another 6 months on the dad, depending on how compliant he is with all the "services" he is going to be required to complete. 

Then I went to court for Z.  This was an emergency hearing requested by the CASA to stop visitation with his mom.   Remember those are the visits that result in miserable behaviors for our Z.  It was more of a trial than a hearing like we are used to.  The CASA called witnesses, who had to sit in the witness stand and be sworn in.  It was a bit scary, but the CASA handled it very well.  The judge ultimately ruled the visits can stop. 

I am so relieved by this.  The days following a visit have been awful.  Z will yell and scream at the drop of a hat, he is aggressive with the other kids, I have even seen him kick the cats.  But after 2 or 3 days, he's fine. I am so excited to be able to report at the next hearing about how wonderful his behavior has been since visits stopped!   --Lets just hope his behavior really is better!  :)