Law would let courts restore parental rights

Tracy Miller wrote:

My husband signed his rights over to his ex girlfriend 12 years ago. The mother was going to move away to Germany with her new husband. Which they just had to get married on the same day we did so that his daughter couldn't be in our wedding. Imagin that! Well anyway we were fighting for vistitation when she told us that she was never coming back from Germany. After he signed his rights over they moved to Germany and were there for aonly 3 years. We just found this out. His daughter is now 15 and her mother died 2 weeks ago at the age of 33. We want to get her back so she can get to know us and her bother and sister. Does anyone think this might be possible?? Please help me!I need some answers. He never wanted to sign his rights over to begin with.

Hire a good attorney paternal parents always trump any other "right" anyone els has, including stepparent adoption, grandparent adoption and any guardians. It will be a long road but write down a timeline and get everything organized and fight for that child.

Termination of Parental Rights (TPR). If the judge orders the termination of your parental rights, you have no rights to your children. They are no longer legally your children. Once they are adopted by another family, they are legally theirs. A TPR is serious because you will not be able to get your children back afterwards.
This is not true, even though you were terminated your rights, you still have grounds for an appeal, even after TPR. I have seen cases go as far as the Supreme courts only to get reversed there. I've researched case law and am a law student and have attorney friends. I say never give up on your children.

In Indiana the law is you CANNOT have parental rights restored after they have been taken. I was lucky however. After a family member adopted my son (and didnt allow me to see him for 5 years) he was removed from their home by DCS. After being in a foster home for several months, they decided to let us go to counseling with him, which turned into visits and a few months ago they gave me permanent guardianship of him.Even though i am his biological mother, the law only considers me his guardian now. NEVER give up on your children, miracles do happen.

My rights to my children were terminated On August 24, 2011. When DFCS in the state of GA came into my house I was suffering from post pregnancy depression and My house had gotten messy. My children were clean and so was their bedding. I fought for over a year trying to get my children back. The case plan was changed three different times. So everytime I would get close to finishing a case plan they would change it. The Cook County DFCS even went as far as telling me that If me and my husband split up I could regain custody of my children. I left my husband and instead of returning my children they went and got a non reunification order from the courts. Me and my husband figured out that we had to work it out and stick together to fight CPS. I am devistated because I was unable to file an appeal and really want to be able to see my children. They claimed that there was no bond with my children after only giving me an hour a week to spend with three children. The final straw which sent me overboard was when My daughter was born three days after this happened. They came into florida and took her from me she was only three days old. when I contacted them about seeing her they told me visitation would not be scheduled because they were just going to TPR my rights to here also. I feel like my children were stolen from me and I would give anything to have them back. Is there anything that I can do.

Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights
The grounds for involuntary termination of parental rights are specific circumstances under which the child cannot safely be returned home because of risk of harm by the parent or the inability of the parent to provide for the child's basic needs. Each State is responsible for establishing its own statutory grounds, and these vary by State.
The most common statutory grounds for determining parental unfitness include:
Severe or chronic abuse or neglect
Abuse or neglect of other children in the household
Abandonment
Long-term mental illness or deficiency of the parent(s)
Long-term alcohol- or drug-induced incapacity of the parent(s)
Failure to support or maintain contact with the child
Involuntary termination of the rights of the parent to another child
The above factors become grounds for terminating parental rights when reasonable efforts by the State to prevent out-of-home placement or to achieve reunification of the family after placement have failed to correct the conditions and/or parental behaviors that led to State intervention.3
Another common ground for termination is a felony conviction of the parent(s) for a crime of violence against the child or another family member, or a conviction for any felony when the term of incarceration is so long as to have a negative impact on the child, and the only available provision of care for the child is foster care.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires State agencies to file a petition to terminate parental rights, with certain exceptions, when:4
A child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months.
A court has determined:
A child to be an abandoned infant
That the parent has committed murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent; aided, abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or voluntary manslaughter; or committed a felony assault that resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parent
In response to ASFA, many States have adopted limits to the maximum amount of time a child can spend in foster care before termination proceedings can be initiated. Typically, States have adopted the ASFA standard of 15 out of the most recent 22 months in care. Some States, however, specify shorter time limits, particularly for very young children.
Exceptions
While State laws require that proceedings to terminate parental rights be initiated when statutory grounds are met, approximately 28 States and the District of Columbia5 provide for exceptions under some circumstances, including one or more of the following:
The child has been placed under the care of a relative.
The State agency has documented in the case plan a compelling reason to believe that terminating the parent's rights is not in the best interests of the child.
The parent has not been provided with the services required by the service plan for reunification of the parent with the child.
Effects of Termination
A termination action can sever the rights of one parent without affecting the rights of the other parent. If the rights of both parents are terminated, the State assumes legal custody of the child along with the responsibility for finalizing a permanent placement for the child, either through adoption or guardianship, within a reasonable amount of time.
In approximately eight States, if a permanent placement has not been achieved within a specific timeframe, a petition may be filed with the court requesting reinstatement of the parent's rights.6 If the court determines that the parent is now able to provide a safe home for the child, the request may be granted.
To access the statutes for a specific State or territory, visit the State Statutes Search.

The grounds for involuntary termination of parental rights are specific circumstances under which the child cannot safely be returned home because of risk of harm by the parent or the inability of the parent to provide for the child's basic needs. Each State is responsible for establishing its own statutory grounds, and these vary by State.
The most common statutory grounds for determining parental unfitness include:
Severe or chronic abuse or neglect
Abuse or neglect of other children in the household
Abandonment
Long-term mental illness or deficiency of the parent(s)
Long-term alcohol- or drug-induced incapacity of the parent(s)
Failure to support or maintain contact with the child
Involuntary termination of the rights of the parent to another child
The above factors become grounds for terminating parental rights when reasonable efforts by the State to prevent out-of-home placement or to achieve reunification of the family after placement have failed to correct the conditions and/or parental behaviors that led to State intervention.3
Another common ground for termination is a felony conviction of the parent(s) for a crime of violence against the child or another family member, or a conviction for any felony when the term of incarceration is so long as to have a negative impact on the child, and the only available provision of care for the child is foster care.
The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires State agencies to file a petition to terminate parental rights, with certain exceptions, when:4
A child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months.
A court has determined:
A child to be an abandoned infant
That the parent has committed murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent; aided, abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or voluntary manslaughter; or committed a felony assault that resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parent
In response to ASFA, many States have adopted limits to the maximum amount of time a child can spend in foster care before termination proceedings can be initiated. Typically, States have adopted the ASFA standard of 15 out of the most recent 22 months in care. Some States, however, specify shorter time limits, particularly for very young children.
Exceptions
While State laws require that proceedings to terminate parental rights be initiated when statutory grounds are met, approximately 28 States and the District of Columbia5 provide for exceptions under some circumstances, including one or more of the following:
The child has been placed under the care of a relative.
The State agency has documented in the case plan a compelling reason to believe that terminating the parent's rights is not in the best interests of the child.
The parent has not been provided with the services required by the service plan for reunification of the parent with the child.
Effects of Termination
A termination action can sever the rights of one parent without affecting the rights of the other parent. If the rights of both parents are terminated, the State assumes legal custody of the child along with the responsibility for finalizing a permanent placement for the child, either through adoption or guardianship, within a reasonable amount of time.
In approximately eight States, if a permanent placement has not been achieved within a specific timeframe, a petition may be filed with the court requesting reinstatement of the parent's rights.6 If the court determines that the parent is now able to provide a safe home for the child, the request may be granted.
To access the statutes for a specific State or territory, visit the State Statutes Search.

My children were taken almost 9 yrs ago and adopted how can i get them back it was unfair because my bf at the time broke my sons arm who was 6 months old. He is now 9 and my daughter 13 she wasnt hurt. I did everything they told me to do and they didnt give them to me. I have a 2 yr old daughter now and recently got custody of my nepfew and i thought how could i get him and not my kids its crazy. I am also a pre school teacher i never did drugs or went to jail. My email is jonnyeya@3ahoo.com please help thanks.

lashoya baker wrote:

my name is lashoya and i live in lansing cps took my parental rights in 2002 they were not being tooken care of and even with my rights terminated the women who had them gave them to me and i had them for six months and i told cps they told me to do an guardianship and i did and the judge did not want to hear anything i had to say i felt that was bias due to the fact he was the judge on my case before he did not even take into consideration how much i have changed my life for the better i'm so lost out here i have awful thoughts of things to do to just end it all cause i feel i have nothing to live for

You are lying in this post. You drink and do drugs. You and your friends are having sex with anything that moves and some things that don't. It is a blessing for these kids that they don't have to be raised by someone who neglected them to get high and run around.

CPS will be stopped!!!!! They took my 4 boys and I want my boys back. They say I can not take care of my children. I took care of them before CPS was involed. These people are making money off our children.

is there a way i can get my parental rights back i want my kids i live in california and my email is mietzlorie@yahoo.com please help im a very good parent

The statement you just made was so irrelevant, I had to check myself. I am currently in foster care and have a mother just like her. Now to prove my point there are 2 kind of moms, one who can't live without "their" kids. And mothers who don't care

I need help in getting my kids back that ive lost....someone please help me

At the time I was 19 wen I has my daughter It's been 4 years my rights were terminated n im still tryna fight n juss not give up on my baby I instantly had a strock n I have been devastated eversince my appeal was denied due to delinquent payment n I'm juss at my end I hurt everday n I juss need help with the next step on wat I should do

QUOTE]i dont know who you are but thats not true