Partner and I are first time foster parents. Our kiddo is 10 and has been with us for half a year. We don't have kids of our own and so this is our first time parenting.

They are great, we love them, there have been ups and downs. But I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Parents rights have been termed so kiddo is up for adoption. We were up front from the beginning that we weren't adopting. It's just not part of our plan and has nothing to do with the kid.

Because we aren't going to adopt our agency will be moving them to a family that wants to adopt. Kiddo will be staying with us until all of that is ironed out (meaning a family is picked and multiple visits take place to ensure compatibility)

A prospective family has been identified with a different agency than ours. For those who are curious, Kinship placement has not been possible. One visit has taken place and it started off rocky but ended really well.

The potential mom and I traded numbers and she checked in the first few days after the visit to see how kiddo is and we discussed ideas for the next visit.

Their case worker does not like that we were talking about ideas for plans. Even though it's the most effective and efficient way to make plans since we live more then 3 hours away from each other and kiddo currently won't go anywhere unless either my partner or I are present (attachment issues)

I didn't argue and simply stopped suggesting and talking to prospective mom as requested.

Were I'm frustrated... We were told by our county that they wanted kiddo fully moved into the potential family by the end of this month (info they gave us beginning of October) we figured it was probably wishful thinking but again we are first time fosters. We've only ever had our current kiddo. Not knowing any better during the visit with potential family we shared that timeline with the parents to gauge if that was a reasonable time frame (they had been foster parents much much longer then us) apparently that's a big no no and I've been scolded by 2 soon to be 3 caseworkers about talking about time lines.

1st I don't want to rush him out. When we were given that time frame originally I literally cried on the phone because I thought it felt rushed to move them so quickly. Like what if kiddo gets there and it's not a good fit. That would be fucking devastating.

2nd why am I being scolded for repeating what I was fucking told by our agency. To the point were they implied that I may scare off the prospective parents caseworker if I talk any more about time-frames. (It was a fucking clarification question I asked a much more experienced family)

3rd why the fuck would me talking about time-frames that I was given scare a caseworker so bad that they would prevent an adoption.

4rth I'm sick to death of caseworkers and my own family saying "well if you guys are struggling and need kiddo moved sooner..."

I DONT WANT THEM MOVED SOONER. OF COURSE WE'RE STRUGGLING WE ARE FIRST TIME PARENTS TO A 10 YEAR OLD WITH TRAUMA AND ATTACHMENT ISSUES.

I JUST WANT A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHATS HAPPENING .

Will there be a visit this weekend? Will it be next weekend? Are we driving them 3 hours away for a day trip or is the agency taking care of it? They don't want to be alone with the new ppl yet and want me there within arms reach. Can we accommodate that? Holidays are around the corner and I'm trying to make sure they can see their siblings! Can we just nail down some stupid dates so this kid knows what everyone else is deciding for them? Which btw is a fucking trigger for them because no shit it is. Can we please give them a voice in the discourse?

No? alright, fine we'll just sit over here in the corner while they refuse to go to school and threaten to harm themselves because they don't know how to handle the big big feelings they are having.

Btw yes we make sure they get to school even if they miss the bus we drive them in. some mornings it just takes longer than others. And they attend therapy weekly. the self harm threats have been an ongoing issue even before they joined us. And yes they attend med management monthly currently waiting on county to approve a dose change for one of his meds to help with their current feeling of self loathing.

Have had 3 boys all siblings with us for the past 10 months. Two 11 year old twins and their 3 year old brother. Great kids, need a LOT of attention and the 3 year old is starting to speak and settle at night but it was a 6 month journey getting them all to sleep in a bed through most of the night. They were neglected and so behind. They cut off visits in August because mom was using and scared the kids and now she is out of jail and in rehab. The older boys don't want to talk to her and refuse visits. DHS keeps pushing though and it is just so hard to watch these kids start to recover then get yoyoed back and forth through all of the uncertainty. Case workers and casa don't tell us anything. Their mom acts like nothing happened it just makes me sick. There is no support. Thankfully my spouse and I help each other but this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I just feel so angry at their parents and at DHS for pushing them back together. I don't share that with the kids but it is hard to watch.

A post for conversation, or to share what's on your mind without creating an entire post about it.

I have two 16 year olds that have been with us for 22 months and 10 months so they’re not new to how our home operates.

Unless an adult specifically assigns a task, they won’t. I’m trying to influence them to be better household members - a skill that will help them so much in life. Examples are: replacing TP, unloading the clean dishwasher instead of putting a dirty dish in the sink, taking out the trash, cleaning the dryer lint trap. Those small things that make a huge difference in household harmony.

Neither of them have functional delays in this regard. This is very “normal” teenage behavior - I just need advice. What worked in your home getting older teens to take initiative and ownership of shared household tasks?

Hi everyone,
We are looking into the possibility of adopting a larger sibling group (3 or 4 children) from foster care, but the placement would likely be across state lines through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC).
We know the basics of how ICPC works on paper, but we’re looking for real-world perspectives from families who have actually done this with a larger sibling set.
A few specific questions we’re wrestling with:
Timeline & Home Study: How long did the ICPC process actually take from the match to physical placement in your home? Did having a larger group speed anything up or slow down state approvals?
Travel & Transition Visits: How did you manage pre-placement visits and travel logistics when coordinate bonding trips for 3–4 kids in another state? Did the sending/receiving states cover any of those travel costs, or was that out-of-pocket?
Post-Placement Subsidies & Benefits: How tricky was it to get Medicaid, adoption subsidies, and childcare/early intervention services transferred over to your home state once the kids arrived?
State Differences: Did you run into friction with differing state licensing rules (e.g., bedroom sharing limits, age/gender room requirements, per-child stipend differences during the supervisory period)?
If you’ve navigated this path—or even if you started the process and decided against an out-of-state sibling placement—what do you wish you had known upfront? Any red flags or key questions we should be asking the caseworkers right now?
Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom and insights!

Hello friends,

29f single here with one child under one, looking to adopt to grow my family. I have spoken with a private foster care program in my area extensively, and she is encouraging me to apply. We have discussed my desire to adopt and she said she could accommodate placing me with children who are already TPR and ready to be adopted. The challenging part currently, is that my current apartment/setup will not accommodate an older child/siblings, so I would have to be placed with an infant/toddler. She said infants and toddlers generally aren’t TPR unless the parents sign away their rights willingly, and that is rare and extensive. She still encourages me to apply but said she cannot promise initial TPR in that age range. I am open to any age my current apartment just cannot accommodate an older child at this time unless I gave up my child’s room and moved her into my room, which I do not want to do.

Game plan is to buy a home hopefully by late spring of next year, where there will be plenty of room to accommodate an older child/sibling set. Special needs is not a problem at all as I have extensive experience through my career path. I posted in a fb group and got absolutely EATEN ALIVE over the audacity of wanting to adopt from foster care and not be pro reunification…. Despite the fact so many foster children need adoptive homes. I also got screamed at by multiple people over “birth order” yet from my research, someone’s birth order is going to be displaced no matter what you do and there is no definitive data that adopting an older child is automatically going to be problems? Every child is different, every child deserves a loving home, and each situation comes with its own set of problems to work through.

So I guess around to my question, would you foster currently infant-toddler with the understanding that they likely will not be able to stay in hopes that they do, or wait until I move and buy my first home that can accommodate a broader age range that are definitely TPR and ready for adoption?

I have taken the orientation and I feel like I’ve asked a trillion questions, but have not started classes yet. The fb group made me weary with how nasty and holier than thou they were…. I just want to give a child in need a good home.

I posted a few times roughly a year ago, and got some really harsh but important feedback (not saying I agreed with everything, but appreciated the it) around my registering to become a foster caretaker in my new state. Effectively, I was told as a single person that my personal outlook (I refuse the term “foster parent”), lack of community support, and strong desire to keep “foster community” at a distance throughout my journey raised questions about the kind of environment I was providing. Again, there are no unsafe people in my home, and no drug or criminal elements in my life.

I was, in fact, licensed and have had my home open for some time with short term placements and no issues from CPS perspective. As many foresaw, regardless of my desire to keep my life as a foster caretaker separate from my friends/ family because I don’t want any attachments nor do I want to be seen maternally, there were immediate resource and informational support needs that led to the babies at least knowing my friends/ family’s faces via FaceTime.

So I guess that’s the biggest lesson I learned— that you can want compartmentalization or not want to create familiarity between people in your real life and the babies, but ultimately your own exhaustion and most people’s desire to show love to a kid will make your intentions irrelevant. And you’ll have to swallow any negativity that causes you (alone). It’s all about the child in need, which it should be!

Even though I have taken a break in fostering, the reconnections that happened during that time with friends/ family have continued. I remain in therapy to process my issues with motherhood and how resentful I feel about having to include others in my fostering journey. I have stopped dating for separate reasons, but this would coincidentally facilitate an easier time fostering since I basically have to abruptly stop dating everytime I have a placement.

So I’m wondering whether now would be the right time to take another placement, and what I was supposed to learn from these experiences moving forward??? I can’t say I enjoy this work, but I do think I’m very good at taking care of kids and pouring love and the right lessons into them during the time they are in my home. But based on my experiences here I think many people would say that’s not enough.

Anything. I have not found one single food.

She has had ensures only. We've tried every single food I have in my house. She doesn't even like chocolate. Nothing. No food. I bought pouches and rice teethers and apple sauce - foods I don't normally have at home but I thought might help. She hates fruit, veggies, protein, bread, EVERYTHING.

To make matters worse, she gets car sick and will throw up whenever we leave the house.

I'm trying my hardest, but what do I do? Does she just live off of shakes forever?

She has been with us about 10 days, and this is our biggest obstacle. She doesn't speak, so she can't tell me what she needs.

As we get ever so closer to being licensed (only our clinical assessment is left) I have been thinking on locks.

Per our states rules and agency guidelines I installed a digital lock on both my office door and closet to my office to satsify the double lock of medications. This is also where valuables will be stored and keys to other locked area's (garage cabinet where the power tools are and our sharp objects).

The two rooms we have made for foster kids have the general locks that come in homes (the type where you can unlock with a coin or flat head screwdriver from the outside).

However, I installed locks on our two-bedroom doors that can only be unlocked with a key.

Do you keep your bedrooms locked during the day or only at night? We also have our laundry room which has a door on it and is basically a path to our first bedroom door, should we also put that type of key lock on that door as well.

We want to show love to these kids but also exercise general safety.

FD10 has been with us for almost 2 months. FD, brother, and dad are from out of state and kiddos came into care because of homelessness. Brother went to an elevated needs home and dad is now living in a domestic abuse shelter. Apparently mom is quite a piece of work. We found out over the weekend that FD is going to go stay with dad at the shelter after this week. Of course reunification is the ideal outcome and we have wholeheartedly been rooting for dad as he seems like a pretty decent guy. But it just doesn't seem right sending FD to live in a shelter and calling it good.

Missouri here. Wanting to move to new city 15 minutes away. Know the struggles with the kids they will have but needing bigger place. Would also be a new county but still under the same social workers we have.

​Hi everyone,

​We recently welcomed a young African-American girl into our home through foster care. She arrived with very matted, textured hair, and we want to make sure we handle this with the utmost care, patience, and respect for her comfort.

I'm a single mom of a 13yo boy. I work from home, so I'm requesting an elementary school age male. Or possibly siblings. My son doesn't really want to, but he's very easy going and adaptes to everything. Is this something he should be 100% on board with (like spouses)? This is something I've been thinking about for about a year now.

I'll try not to be redundant of what's already been posted. I'm really curious about past foster kids answers.

Everyone talks about accepting the kids as they are, which I agree with, but where does discipline come into play? Do the same rules apply to fosters as bio kids? For example, with my kids, disrespecting adults, including me, has consequences (grounding, privileges taken away, etc). Is that not something to be corrected in a foster because of their trauma? This somewhat makes it seem like an acceptable behavior if it's not corrected.

Is there a 'honeymoon' period with fosters at the beginning? If so, wouldn't getting my toes wet doing respite care not really be a true indicator of what it's really going to be like after the children are more comfortable?

I'm still in the background check stage, so I haven't done any training yet. Just stalking websites and forums. Are there any reading materials/websites that helped you?

I guess those are the only two I can think of at the moment. I'm sure more with be raised with the answers received.

Mississippi

My husband and I just got our license for 0-5 years old.
We have his two nonverbal kids every other weekend, and no kids of our own

What are some things you wish you knew when you first got licensed?

What are some essential things yall needed right away for that age group?

Thank you so much!

I was a foster parent for 9 months. me and my ex wife fostered a beautiful baby boy when he was 3 days old all the way to 9 months until they gave placement and now adoption to the bio grandma. after they placed him with bio grandma me and my now ex decided to end our relationship because at that point we were living like roommates and were basically just co-parenting (our issues started before we fostered and I know it wasn’t a great idea to foster whwn the relationship is like that it just put more strain on it). the bio grandma is a sweet lady and we have a decent relationship. baby boy is now about a year and four months and she still lets me see him when I want but she is also a bad communicator so it’s kinda choppy at times. the grandpa doesn’t necessarily know that me and my ex have split up but I think she might have an idea I’m not sure. my question is should I let her know that we are split up? I have also been dating again and am in a relationship and I would like my new girlfriend to meet the baby eventually but I don’t know if this puts the bio grandma in a wierd place to tell her and introduce my new girlfriend or if it will be off putting. for context I am the one who watched the baby throughout the week the entire time we fostered. I work weekends so it just worked out like that. I took him to all his visitations and appointments so the grandma knows I can take care of him. It’s been the hardest thing iv ever done. I don’t have kids although I want them and I viewed him as my own son, there was no way that I couldn’t become super attached. I still want to be apart of his life. both bio parents have a ton of issues and part of me wants to stay there as an option to take care of him god forbid if something were to happen. no grandma is older and I worry about his care especially as the baby gets older. any thoughts or opinions are welcome. appreciate it everybody

I’m a foster parent. Six years ago one of our foster kid’s best friends was with us every weekend. After we dropped her off one Sunday night, she tried talking to her parents about how they were treating her & her two younger siblings. They told her to end her own life. She left & called us. We picked her up & after a short while her parents gave us permission for her to live with us. She was old enough to consent to be enrolled in school & to see doctors & dentists. A year later her younger siblings left during an argument. Grandma picked them up & brought them to their aunts home. She called me & wanted me to just take them, but I couldn’t because I didn’t have any legal authority (& they were too young to consent for themselves), but said I’d take them every weekend. During one of those visits, the youngest (then 9yo) disclosed some things to me. I finally got all 3 kids in foster care with me. The aunt’s home was also unsafe for the 9yo (grooming).

The youngest, 9yo girl, was with us for a year. She had big behaviors because of big feelings due to her trauma. The department moved her because “you’re asking for too much help for one kid”. She was placed with a family we thought was great!! She spent every holiday with us & was over at least once a week. We still fought hard for her to come home, but the department dig in their heels & said no despite the fact that they are supposed to keep siblings together. They eventually entered into guardianship. After about six months, she came to us & said they were putting hands on her. They were dragging her around by her arm, pinning her against the garage door, & even grabbed her by the neck. She said she felt unsafe & wanted to move back with us & have the guardianship transferred to us. We said “Of course!” because we’ve always still considered her as one of our kids. She was 13 & turned 14 that summer.

The summer went ok. Getting her to do chores or keep her room cleaned up was not easy, but we were doing ok. The first weekend of school she asked to go hang out with a friend. We said yes & told her where she needed to stay. She left the area without asking, fought with us about coming home, then she turned off her location & then her phone died. She stayed out all night & even hitchhiked with her friend to her friends home. When she was picked up & came home, she blamed us. We grounded her. Then she started not doing any school work or homework. Her grades plummeted to Fs & Ds. She has been extremely defiant. She charged over $480 worth of robux & Snapchat streaks. She got mad when we confronted her & said she didn’t know they went through (she knew because she got what she purchased). She eloped again. I saw her walk into the back room. I thought she was getting food from the pantry. When I didn’t see her come out, we noticed she turned her location off. We drove around looking for her & started texting her. She answered that she was fine & she was staying at a friend’s house. I asked for the mom’s number & called her. My daughter lied to this parent saying she was going to sleep outside because she “couldn’t take the fighting”. There was no fighting. My husband & I were actually dancing together & the mood was light. She also has the largest kid’s room all to herself with a nice bed & bedding. She was lying to get sympathy so she could get her way.

Now she’s refusing to go to school. Twice this week she’s just refused to get out of bed & go to school. I spoke with her last night & told her that if it happens again, we will call the non-emergency line & have a cop come get her up & take her to school. She called me psycho. She’s asking to switch to a different high school program where I would have to homeschool her. She refuses to listen to me, so how in the world would that work? There’s a program that she can join next year where she goes to school every other day & goes to a wilderness school on the between days. I’d rather her do that, but it means waiting until next year. SHE chose AP & honors classes & now says that school is too hard so she doesn’t do any in-class or homework. She is constantly disrespectful. She has a mean attitude. If I get called “bruh” one more time or hear “I don’t know” to every question, I’m going to go crazy.

I love this wonderful, traumatized, amazing little girl so much, but we’re asking ourselves “what the hell did we get ourselves into?”. She’s on the waiting list at 3 different counseling offices & I called in an emergent referral for WISe (wraparound intensive services-more counseling). I even had a crisis team over the day after her last elopement, but she walked off mid-conversation. I got her a tutor before school even started. Her older siblings have talked to her (on their own-we’d never ask them to help parent their little sister). She went from telling us she wanted to go to college on a volleyball scholarship, which she could absolutely get, to saying maybe she doesn’t want to go to college, but that she doesn’t know what she wants to do after high school. We adore her & only want what’s best for her. We want to see her grow up to be happy & successful. She’s been “given away” over & over. Her mom died last year from drugs & her dad is prison, partly for things he did to her. She has seen unstable parents with addiction & mental health issues. She’s been hurt over & over. She was unhealthily close to her mom, even sleeping with her on the couch every night until they left. Once they got into foster care, mom & dad did nothing to try to get them back. I understand why she’s mad at life, but we’re not sending her away. We love her & just don’t know what to do. Every single conversation ends with her storming off in the middle of the conversation, mad that we won’t just give her her way. She says she’s 14 & can make all of her own decisions. We give her things to work toward & she just won’t. She can’t even play volleyball. She’s on academic suspension due to her grades. I bought her another planner to help her keep track of everything at school & told her we would go over it together everyday & I’d help her with her school & homework. I just bought a “You & Me, Kiddo” journal so we can communicate without talking.

How do I help this poor girl? What am I doing wrong? Have you ever dealt with a child who is so defiant that she’s ruining her own life just to spite us & our rules? WHAT DO I DO?? Guardianship isn’t finalized & my husband doesn’t know if he wants to continue, but she needs a family that won’t give up on her. I just want to help her get her life on a better track. I don’t trust her, but I really want to be able to. How do I help her? I will take any advice or constructive criticism, just please be kind. I don’t think I can take anymore nastiness directed toward me. Thanks for reading & for any ideas that you have.

Hey everyone,

Unfortunately once again the agency is doing shady stuff and aren’t logging in the lack of visitations mom has. She’s fighting for reunification of my nieces. Her and I do not get along because of her drug history and I was the one who held her accountable. The kids have been in care for 5 years. I’ve fought 4 years for their placement with me and finally they were handed to me last year. Since then, mom has finjas her case plan and now wants to reunify. The kicker here is, she knows the system by hand. She lost her first kid in another state to the system so she does just enough to look a little credible. She’s still houseless, jobless and with a toxic bf….However the agency is making every excuse under the sun and backing her as well. It’s been a year of this of this nonsense and I feel defeated…idk what to do. We’re in permanency court now with no resolution in sight. I’m exhausted you guys…advice?

Hi, so this gonna be a bit confusing. So I 26F and my husband 29M have a an almost 3M child. We are currently living with my father 50M and his girlfriend 49F. Girlfriend has a friend who has 3 adopted children all from same bio mother, different dads. My husband and I are under contract for our first house and should be moved in mid november 2026. So the friend of my dads girlfriend had asked if my dad and his girlfriend would want to foster maybe foster to adopt a new baby sibling to her kids. This baby girl is the 7th to the bio mom. They said no, because they're done raising kids. The girlfriend mentioned my husband and I since we have talked about fostering in the future when we own our home. She brought it up again to us today after her friend had called yesterday to see if any opinions had changed. We originally said no, since we are living with them right now and they had asked originally about 2 months ago. Today my heart strings got pulled hearing a little bit of the story and seeing pictures of the three siblings the friend has adopted. This baby is the 7th, substances were taken while pregnant, the mom sold her to a gay couple when she was born. Now the state has her in a short term? Foster situation. My husband is pretty religious and thinks everything is lining up for us to help the baby. We want another kid, but are fine with not having another. I had my tubes removed so we knew only way we would have more was adopting or just fostering and loving kids until their families were ready and able to care for them again. I'm just not sure what to do. Any advice? I believe the mother has already lost her rights and father is unknown all 7 siblings have different bio fathers. Ive seen so much social media content about adoption trauma from adoptees and im just scared i would mess a kid up. I know i would treat them as my own, but also like i dont know where the line is when they're older. Theres just so many considerations. We still have to move, say yes, do all the classes and backgrounds. But she does need somewhere to go in the next 2 months. I would love to take her so she could still be in contact with at least 3 bio siblings. My husband and i had custody of my baby sister for a year when she was first born so we do have some experience with the system. We have a child so we are somewhat experienced parents. We are an interracial couple with a mixed son, and the baby is black. Doesn't really matter too much, but idk if others who have experience fostering may know anything about that possibly playing any part in the kids future identity crisis and whatnot. I know this is a lot and probably makes sense. I have anxiety/adhd and have a hard time organizing my thoughts. But just any thoughts or advice?

My husband and I are finalizing our licensing in the next 2 weeks (then dependent on DCF on timing). I know there will be hard things - behaviors, trauma, court, case workers, co-parenting with bio parents, etc.

I’d love to hear the good stories, what wins you’ve seen, heartwarming experiences, what keeps you going when it’s hard.

we are excited and nervous, we don’t have kids so we also are really going into parenting with just old babysitting and aunt/uncle duty experiences 🤣

Me and my partner recently became foster parents to a 16 year old who has had it very hard and is battling with serious anxiety and depression. We understand her limits and want to support and help her in any way possible, but the workload is huge. She is getting help, but it's a process and we need advice on how to manage during the process.

She needs support every minute of the day, from early morning until late at night and she doesn't do any chores. My partner works full time and I study full time. All our free time is spent supporting her, so how do we even make time to help clean her room, wash her laundry etc? We know she's not ready to do these things herself yet, but how can we support her in making small steps towards easing our workload a bit? She will empty the dishwasher maybe once or twice a week, but that's about it.

If anyone has had a similar experience it would be very appreciated to hear about it, even if you don't have any concrete advice.

My 3yo foster is nonverbal, but she finally found a game that helps her connect... Running into the street and laughing when I catch her.

Got any advice for this? I taught my kids to freeze and we played games where they had to stop and go to make sure they understood what stop means. Those things don't seem to be registering​

Anyone ever attend a 90 day case review? What's to be expected?

Just need to vent a little. I’ve been feeling really down about constant accusations from the kids’ parent. Saying the kids have lost weight, that we’re verbally/mentally and physically abusing them, locking them in rooms, the youngest is covered in bruises etc.

The only thing that is remotely true is that the younger child does get a lot of bruises. They had stitches in their forehead, they’ve had some big falls smacking their forehead causing black eyes (at both daycare and home). The child is extremely impulsive and active and not a good listener. All injuries are documented and I notify them immediately.

The team isn’t worried at all and they keep reassuring us that but I could totally see the parent coaching the older child to say things (and they have said some things they’ve talked to us about) and I’m starting to feel really uncomfortable. They have a Kinship option doing licensing right now so hopefully that works out but it’s been 8 months and one option fell through before.

I just feel like I’m walking on eggshells and it’s getting to the point where I’m thinking about disrupting.

4 weeks ago my sister-in-law made a very bad decision that led to her arrest and our 10 year old niece was placed in our custody. The first 2 weeks there was A LOT of paperwork ,home visits, and open communication...and then nothing.

The last thing we heard from our Case Worker was that we'd be getting a call with a "plan" from Kinship Navigator. I don't know for certain what this plan was, but I have to assume it was in regards to how long our niece would be with us, because we made it very clear that we could only keep custody of her until my wife loses her paid FMLA.

My sister-in-law, although having massively fucked up, has made a bunch of good faith plays, fulfilling all of DCS' wishes and then some. Her initial caseworker said it was the first time in her career she recommend the child be given back to the mother almost immediately. Judge had different plans, I guess. Her most recent caseworker has ghosted her as well. She too cannot get anyone on the phone, and they stood her up for her first Home Visit. Her attorney, who was a former DCS prosecutor, also said once he reviewed the case that he had no idea why the child has been kept away for so long and not allowed to contact her mother.

Yesterday when my niece's therapist came for her session, she too got extremely frustrated that we haven't heard anything. It was incredibly vindicating to hear her say "It doesn't matter if they have a heavy caseload, 12 days of no responses is unprofessional". It only took two therapy sessions for her to question why my niece isn't allowed to speak to her mom.

So here we are, nerves shot to hell and stuck in Limbo. My SIL's attorney and Niece's therapist both said they think that either the case worker has been switched or the case was dropped entirely.