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[treasigh]

My husband and I are trying to adopt his 6 year old sister. She has been in foster care for a little over a year. We attempted for kinship care when she first went in but was denied even without an investigation. We were told she would be returning home soon there for we did not pursue the issue further. We have documentation from the first encounter with CPS and are now creating an even more thorough set of documentation and law this time around. CPS is now looking for family to adopt her and we are fighting. Both her mother and father have lost all parental rights and all grandparents cannot have her due to both parents being a flight risk. What I want to know what is the process for adopting a relative? I have done plenty of research and can only find information on a normal adoption of non-relatives. I know the average process is a home study which includes all sorts of investigations, interviews, home search, etc. However, looking through my state laws I have found we are exempt from this as we are relatives within the 3rd degree of consanguinity. I have looked up the laws on adoption and on most laws it says these laws must be followed as long as you are not a relative within the 3rd degree of consanguinity. My question is, what process are we looking at? Have you been through this? I am looking more for answers from close relatives within the 3rd degree and not cousin seeing as they do not fit in said category. We live in Nevada.

[marlan43]

I used to be a case worker w/these cases and sounds like you already have some iunderstanding of it. Yes, it is considered Kinship Care. It was years ago and I don't recall anything like 3rd degree (etc) in the state I was in. However, I can tell you what I know. We were a small, private adoption foster care agency; our cases came from Social Srvices, CPS. We completed home studies for foster care and kinship care, placed/supervised foster/kinship care, handled adoptions, and had a contract to work w/families reported for abuse/neglect. Sicne she is already in foster care, i would start w/her worker. if her case is beign managed by a privet agency, contact that worker. I don't understand why you can't have a homestudy done and have her moved to you guys. Since the parents are already TPR'd, she is "avaialbe" for adoption, which they will pursue soon since the goal is to NOT ahve "avaialbe" children staying in foster care too long (there is a timeframe depending on the state), but provide them w/permanent homes. Are her current foster paretns looking at foster-to-adopt? Our state used to prefer to do kinship care if there was an appropriate relative. Every county also has a Foster Care Review Board. thsi board meets and reviews ALL cases and determines what will happend w/each. You might want to contact them as well.
EDIT; despite what another poster said, many relatives are quite often purposely overlooked due to various reasons (unstable living environment, known drug user, etc), but this does not sound like your case. Plus, i didn't get the feeling you were denied and ruled out. If it looks like a child might be returning home, as you stated, a homestudy would not be intiated w/ANYBODY...homestudies can take up to 4 weeks to complete. But, she didnd't go home, so the situation has changed. You have to try and work WITH them becasue ultimatley, they have the power to decide where she goes: her parents are TPR'd, so the state has custody. You can consult an adoption lawyer, but try not to get a pit-bull. That can backfire.

[caelin]

You need a good lawyer. You should have gotten one in the first place when CPS denied kinship care a year ago. Stop using the internet to 'figure it out'. Get a danged lawyer!

[colfre]

You have been denied before so they will not even consider you for adoption. The foster family whre she has been for a year has the very best chance for addtion as it should be at this point.

Relatives are NEVER exempt from the homestudy process-----if at all they are more diligant with relatives as many don't pan out in the process.

[bothan]

As you have NOT been denied, continue to pursue this adoption ( or legal guardianship) as YOU, (if not criminals, drug addicts, etc) are the BEST people to raise this child (not the stranger adoption from foster parents - if that is indeed even on the table. Even if your husband and you have never met the child (compared to a foster family that maybe has known her for a year) - you are STILL better and not strangers - you have a shared history of generations and she needs this. Get a lawyer! Go to court - do not miss a court appointment. Luckily, that old "social workers cry" of "we try to place with family whenever we can" which was untrue due to many, many reasons, is starting to make sense and gain some ground! You need to ask for a home study from the child's case worker now. Go in and sign papers to begin the sled checks, etc. dependent upon the parents history, they may require you and your husband to undergo a drug screen. If the home study is not begun within the week, call the case workers supervisor, etc and continue to go up the chain until you get the director for that county. There is usually an ombudsmans office in the governors cabinet somewhere. The longer this stalls, the better someone's chances of saying, " she loves this foster family and wants to stay with them".