Trial Summary

Today was a crazy climax in the saga of J's placement with us. The whole story is neither simple nor particularly important at this point, but I'll try to summarize the critical bits.

J was placed with us July 9, 2007. DFPS (Department of Family and Protective Services) had a rough time from the beginning, and nothing was very clear to anyone. After six months or so, it seemed clear to us that returning him to his birth mom was not in his best interest. When it looked like DFPS was headed in that direction, we "intervened" on his behalf, hiring a lawyer to represent us in the case in May 2008.

8 months, 2 lawyers, and a number of paychecks later, we found ourselves in court this morning. The facts of the case had been well established by our lawyer, the child advocate, and the children's attorney. It seemed clear that termination of the mother's parental rights (TPR) was in the best interest of the kids, and DFPS was finally in agreement. 

Facing the prospect of TPR on all of her kids, J's birth mom and her lawyer agreed to a compromise. She would voluntarily relinquish her rights to J while continuing to contest TPR on the older 3 kids. We would be pre-approved for adoption and our intervention ended. This plan was agreed by all parties late morning. However, J's biological father wasn't there to agree to it, plus the whole thing needed to be approved by the judge.

There were two cases in the court today. We were the second, and didn't start until 3:30. That first one was hairy. Once we got in front of the judge, it was relatively quickly established that J's bio father has never been involved or interested, so his parental rights were efficiently terminated. The lawyers submitted the voluntary relinquishment and adoption agreement and we were excused by 4:00.

Bottom line, nothing changes immediately, but everything is different. J is still officially a foster placement for now, but with the adoption pre-approval, it is now an adoptive placement for all practical purposes. The adoption process will still take time, but should be expedited, and our lawyer expects finalization within 6 months.

Two unlikely complications are possible. The bio father could appeal the termination. This is unlikely both due to his lack of involvement and the lack of grounds...the case was pretty clear in that case. Slightly more likely, but also not something we are going to lose sleep over, is the right that extended biological family has to file a petition for custody. This has to happen within 3 months. We do not expect extended family to have either the interest or the funds to make this happen.

We have learned in this process that nothing is ever final until it is final. So we're not throwing a party tonight, but we are certainly celebrating. God seems to be working things out in the best interest of everyone involved, which we weren't sure was even possible. It's been a roller coaster of a ride, and worth every bit when we came home to hug our boy.

Finally, we want to thank everyone for your prayers, support, and encouragement over the last 19 months. We couldn't have done this without you. Specifically, thanks to those that made today possible: Tisha, Lisa, and Esther for sitting through two days of trial without ever testifying. Kara for sitting through 2 days of trial just because she's a good friend. Cassie, Erin, and Donna for watching kids longer than anyone expected. You all are blessings that we can't thank enough.

And so the journey continues. Stay tuned! :)