C’s Law

The state senator for our district, a friend from our church, has been working on behalf of our family to have an amendment added to a senate bill that calls for specific types of foster families (those who have filed paperwork to adopt) to be considered a party to the case in their child’s TPR trial. The state wouldn’t be mandated to share information, but they would be legally allowed to do so if the information wasn’t jeopardizing the privacy of the birth parents in any way. This amendment came about after our ridiculous in-the-dark wait to hear whether the appeals on C’s case had been heard/considered/ruled on. We were told we were not an interested party in the case. Oh, really?

The Senate Judiciary Committee had a hearing today on the bill that includes this amendment, which Senator Friend has named “C’s Law.” They voted unanimously to pass the bill. Now the bill will go before the Senate in a couple of weeks, where Senator Friend says it will absolutely pass since it has the unanimous backing of the judiciary committee. After that it might go to a committee of conference with the House–he wasn’t sure if it would be needed, but either way he said it is certain to be approved.

Once the bill is approved by both the House and Senate, it will go to the governor’s desk to be signed. Senator Friend said he would call the governor’s office and ask if there will be a signing ceremony, and if so, he would see that our family was invited, as he says that the governor would certainly want to meet C. How cool would that be?

All of this is really exciting. What a difference this could make in the lives of foster families. To have the state place a child in your care, ask you to be willing to adopt that child, and then tell you that you’re not actually important enough to be considered a party to the case….is just ridiculous. I’m including my letter to the judiciary committee here. I considered making the trip down for the hearing, but I decided I couldn’t afford to miss yet another day of work after missing four a few weeks ago for another round of Evie’s tonsillitis (and I’m glad I didn’t miss it, as the main teacher I work for was quite ill and without a sub, needing a lot of back up!). So, my letter had to be sufficient. I wrote it at about 10:30 last night so it is not the greatest piece of writing. There’s more I wish I had said, and more that I wanted to say but didn’t because I didn’t want to offend anyone–and I didn’t want to single out the work Senator Friend did for us because I didn’t want to risk getting anyone in trouble. So I suppose it comes with a lot of caveats, but I also suppose it doesn’t matter now, as the letter did its job, as did Senator Friend and the committee, and now the bill is on its way!

To the Committee:

We are the parents of C, who came to us in January of 2014 as a foster child who would potentially be free for adoption. His case was listed as a “legal risk,” as parental rights had not been terminated, but the history of his case and other factors led the state to believe that he would be freed for adoption. We were chosen as C’s foster family specifically because we were open to adopting him.

C’s case went to trial for termination of parental rights in June of 2014.  At the end of July, the judge ruled in favor of the state and terminated parental rights. C’s birth parents appealed the decision and we began a long waiting process. We began filing the paperwork to adopt C before the TPR trial began and finished everything in the fall of 2014. Despite having made our intentions to adopt C clear to the state, we were left in the dark about how the case was progressing. We asked for updates on the appeals process, but no one we spoke with seemed to have any information or to be willing to help us find an answer. We were told that, in the court’s opinion, we were not a party with an interest in the case.

The court did finally rule on the appeal and decided to uphold the termination of parental rights in February of 2015. We were able to adopt C one month later, on March 27, 2015. It was a very happy day!

The bill before you comes directly out of our experience with a long wait to hear a result in C’s case. Our situation is not unique. Many families have foster children in their care whom they fully intend to adopt. Many have filed all of the necessary adoption paperwork with the state. And many are left in the dark, waiting, with no word about their children’s cases. This bill would help these families. To be told you are not an interested party in the case of the child you are caring for, loving, intending to adopt, is painful. To keep pre-adoptive families informed is to keep them engaged. These families and the children they care for need support on their challenging journey toward adoption. This bill is one way to offer that support.

Sincerely,

Sarah and John