We had court yesterday for the initial hearing on the termination of W's mom's parental rights.
DCS had made it clear before hand that they would ask for the termination case to be dismissed. That would mean the case would continue as it has for the past 16 months; as an open "CHINS" case. A "CHINS" is a "child in need of services", which is what W is because he needs to be in foster care right now. The reason DCS does not want to pursue termination is because they feel it is still a viable option for W to go home. In other words, they aren't giving up on the mom yet.
I think another reason they asked for dismissal is that they feel there isn't a strong enough case or enough evidence to get termination granted at this time. Which, that may be true. Granting termination is not something a judge takes lightly -which they shouldn't, its serious stuff- but at the same time, how long can this go on?
I talked with our caseworker today and she let me know she isn't really comfortable with things either. She knows things don't always add up with the mom, but again, its not enough to end this case. She didn't say what will happen if the mom looses her house. We found out this week she has been lying about the hours she was working, so her assistance is being taken away for 3 months. Because it includes this month, her rent won't be paid again until March. I don't know how her land lord will feel about that. Its possible she will be homeless for a time. That puts a new spin on things!
Also, it still isn't certain if she is seeing W's dad or not. He has all of a sudden stopped going to his counseling (not that he was going very much before). But it was brought up that maybe he isn't going because he is seeing W already, so why go through the trouble of all the hoops DCS has put up?
I'm hoping these big questions get answered soon, and truthfully so we can feel good about things no matter where W ends up going.
All of this is just draining lately. It doesn't help that I have been working twice as many hours as I normally do (still less than 40 though!). But its hard when I keep thinking, this case has to end soon, one way or another, because time is running out. Then, something comes up and the case continues on again. I wonder what the record is for the longest DCS case ever? That's a record I'd rather not break!
