Foster children who participate in their court proceedings gain a sense of control and ownership.  They may  better understand the process.  The court gains valuable insight by engaging youth in solving their own problems.

Yesterday I attended a presentation in Lawrence, Kansas by the American Bar Association’s Center on Children and the Law .  Their Youth Empowerment Project tries to involve foster children more actively in their court proceedings.

Courts must consult with foster children according to the federal Child and Family Service Improvement Act of 2006.  In Kansas, foster children are recognized parties in their court proceedings.  Nonetheless, sometimes matters arise in court which could inappropriately disturb young children.

Children are required to attend their juvenile offender hearings.  In custody litigation, children usually do not attend their trials.  Instead, judges use other means to solicit the preferences of children, such as custody evaluations and CASA reports.  Some judges will interview children in private chambers with only the lawyers present.

Last Friday I rescued a child from foster care.  The child left the state with his grandparents.

The child’s mother was drunk when she tried to pick him up from his daycare.  The daycare refused to let her leave with her child.  Instead, they called the police.  The police arrested the mother and put the child into police protective custody.

Fortunately, I already had met the grandparents when they were visiting from their home on the West Coast.  As soon as we learned the child was lost to foster care, we started working furiously on a voluntary guardianship.  We had to act fast, before the state sought temporary custody.

I have to credit the prosecutor and the SRS social worker for working openly with me and trusting this family.  They agreed to release the child if I could obtain guardianship orders in less than a day.  I faced a stressful, rushed day, trying to obtain signatures from the mother in Kansas City, the grandmother on the West Coast and the grandfather on a business trip in Chicago.  I found a judge on Friday afternoon to sign temporary orders, and then delivered the orders to the prosecutor and the SRS all before 5 pm.

With a lot of hard work and cooperation from all participants, the plan worked.  By Friday evening, the grandfather picked up the child from foster care.  By Saturday morning, he left with his grandchild to return home.

The child was spared months in foster care.  He can live with his grandparents instead.  His mother now has the opportunity to work on her own rehabilitation while knowing that her child is safe and well cared for.   The state saved scarce resources to use for other children who really need foster care.  Everyone wins.

The international operator asked if I would accept a collect call from Carmen from Mexico.  “Si,” I answered.

Carmen had been my client four years ago.  She lost her teenage daughter to foster care.  Carmen completed her six month reintegration in only four months.  To recover her daughter, she needed only to complete family therapy, which the state never provided.

We argued for months for the state to allow the family therapy to commence.  Finally, the state relented.  Carmen had only one session with her daughter, though.  Before the next session, someone called immigration enforcement and had Carmen deported back to Mexico.

That was years ago.  Now, Carmen was telling me that her daughter had run away.  Her daughter had been living with a Kansas foster family for the past year and a half.  She had been calling Carmen every Sunday until last week.  Now she couldn’t be found.

I told Carmen that I would investigate.  I called the foster family.  They were generous people who had given Carmen’s daughter every opportunity.  Her daughter had graduated from high school with top grades.  She was scheduled for a promotion at work.  She had plans to become an American citizen and study engineering at college.

But then she met a boyfriend, a “novio.”  Her novio had been in and out of jail, had been deported and returned.  We suspect that her daughter might be running with her novio.  I am worried that as a seventeen year old Mexican girl, she could be trafficked to the sex or drug industries.

I exchanged contact information with the foster family.  I also called the foster care case manager.  Perhaps I can help by relaying any information I receive from Carmen in Mexico.  Her daughter might be headed that direction.  The foster family also promised to keep me informed so I can tell Carmen.  If I hear any news, good or bad, I’ll let you know on this blog.

Last year I posted a poem from a foster child.  I have been worried about her for months.  She ran away in July.  She used to call me while she was on the run.  This time she didn’t…

…until Thursday night.  I was driving with my family to a Kansas University women’s volleyball game.  She called me out of the blue.  I was thrilled to hear that she was still alive!

Yesterday I visited her for several hours in a Mental Health facility.  She was detoxing from multiple drugs– both street drugs and abusive amounts of prescription drugs.  She said that she had not slept in a week.  I believe her, because she kept dozing off for a few seconds at a time while we met.

She said that she doesn’t want to stay in the “system” anymore.  She has been a foster child nearly her entire life.  I told her that she can’t live on the streets anymore.  She is a cute, young girl.  There are people who want to make lots of money using her.  I told her to avoid them, and to stay with people who consider her priceless instead.

I will work in the coming weeks to get her transferred to a place that is safe and appropriate for her.  She enjoys the outdoors; so, I might advocate for her to be placed in a wilderness rehabilitation program.  I’ll let you know on this blog what we find for her.

She would appreciate your comments in her support.  Any encouragement you give her could help to keep her alive.  If you post your comment to this blog, I’ll make sure she sees it.  Thank you!

I just returned from a trial for termination of parental rights.  The child is a one year old girl.  Her father has been absent most of her life.  Her mother is recovering from addiction to drugs.

My client is the child’s maternal grandmother.  We hope that the state will allow the grandmother to adopt her grandchild.  To help that happen, the mother voluntarily relinquished her parental rights.

Nothing can be as emotional as a mother relinquishing her parental rights to her child.  Whatever mistakes she previously made, today the mother was brave and selfless in placing the needs of her child ahead of her own.  When she returned from presenting her relinquishment, she fell crying into the arms of her child’s grandmother.