We knew the caseworker was planning to file termination on W's parents, but we hadn't heard the status of that for a few days. The caseworker had hoped to have things ready so she could do the initial termination hearing when we were at court on the 14th, but she wasn't able to get that done.
Well, when I got the mail today, there was a copy of termination paperwork. They filed on both parents and the initial hearings are in about 2 weeks. That means things should be final, as far as the termination of parental rights in 6 weeks or so, unless it takes a while longer to get another court date.
What happens in this process is, the caseworker files termination of parental rights with the court. An initial hearing is scheduled then. At the initial hearing for Alexander, which is my only experience with this, the judge read the case number, said who was present, and asked the parents if they accepted or denied the charges. I'm guessing that is how it will go in this case also. If the the parents accept, I think the judge can grant termination then. But if they deny, a Fact Finding hearing is scheduled. It is supposed to be in 30 days. The Fact Finding hearing is where DCS presents all the evidence they have as to why termination needs to be granted.
If the parents voluntarily give up parental rights (meaning it wouldn't have to get to the fact finding hearing), the judge will grant the termination and we can start the adoption process in 30 days. If the parents won't consent and termination is granted involuntarily, we aren't able to start the adoption process for 6 months. That time frame is there to allow the parents to file an appeal since they didn't consent to the termination. During that 6 months, W would still technically be in foster care, but nothing would change. Visitation would be stopped and we would just be waiting for the 6 months to end so we could make things official.
I haven't seen W's mom since this happened, his next visit is on Monday. I don't know how she is going to react to this. She knew it was coming. I hope she will just go ahead and sign her rights over, but that is probably wishful thinking. I am confident termination will be granted at Fact Finding, but it would be good if it didn't have to come to that. The one that will probably hold things up is the dad. He has maintained that this is a conspiracy against him and he was holding his son in a loving way when he was arrested, even though an entire SWAT team disagrees. So, I don't see him consenting to anything.
I guess we never expected this to be a smooth process. As long as it ends with W being in the best place for him, that's the important thing.
Well, when I got the mail today, there was a copy of termination paperwork. They filed on both parents and the initial hearings are in about 2 weeks. That means things should be final, as far as the termination of parental rights in 6 weeks or so, unless it takes a while longer to get another court date.
What happens in this process is, the caseworker files termination of parental rights with the court. An initial hearing is scheduled then. At the initial hearing for Alexander, which is my only experience with this, the judge read the case number, said who was present, and asked the parents if they accepted or denied the charges. I'm guessing that is how it will go in this case also. If the the parents accept, I think the judge can grant termination then. But if they deny, a Fact Finding hearing is scheduled. It is supposed to be in 30 days. The Fact Finding hearing is where DCS presents all the evidence they have as to why termination needs to be granted.
If the parents voluntarily give up parental rights (meaning it wouldn't have to get to the fact finding hearing), the judge will grant the termination and we can start the adoption process in 30 days. If the parents won't consent and termination is granted involuntarily, we aren't able to start the adoption process for 6 months. That time frame is there to allow the parents to file an appeal since they didn't consent to the termination. During that 6 months, W would still technically be in foster care, but nothing would change. Visitation would be stopped and we would just be waiting for the 6 months to end so we could make things official.
I haven't seen W's mom since this happened, his next visit is on Monday. I don't know how she is going to react to this. She knew it was coming. I hope she will just go ahead and sign her rights over, but that is probably wishful thinking. I am confident termination will be granted at Fact Finding, but it would be good if it didn't have to come to that. The one that will probably hold things up is the dad. He has maintained that this is a conspiracy against him and he was holding his son in a loving way when he was arrested, even though an entire SWAT team disagrees. So, I don't see him consenting to anything.
I guess we never expected this to be a smooth process. As long as it ends with W being in the best place for him, that's the important thing.
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