waiting for the appeal period to be over

[sagewinna]

Today is 60 days since TPR, the last day parents can appeal. Both parents were submitting to the adoption plan from what we understand. The social worker is off on Fridays, so we probably won't hear until Monday or later if there was a last minute change of heart. If there is an appeal it is extremely unlikely to change the outcome but it will make the process so much longer.

If there is no appeal filed the adoption worker said it will be the end of February/beginning of March when we finalize. How lovely it would be to have that happen! 

Just on pins and needles here. 

[Mom31]

Hope it goes well!  Hugs!

[alwayslearning66]

I've been there, and did have an appeal put in. We were assured they wouldn't win and by golly, DHHS was right. We were still plagued by doubt and a low level anxiety, so I understand your position. Stay positive, busy and increase your self care. We're now waiting for our fingerprint cards for the final step in the adoption!

[sagewinna]

The worker emailed me back, dad filed an appeal on the 5th! I wonder when we were going to be told?!

I know the state and county workers are overburdened but geez.

[Mom31]

Oh I am so sorry.

[queenjane]

Ugh that happened to me too. The parents had 30 days to file the appeal but when that came and went i figured we were in the clear. No, they filed anyway, and they let it through. The sw was really casual about it "well sometimes they give them leeway"..whatever. The appeal wasnt heard until about 9 months later!  And then the bdad appealed AGAIN, to the state supreme court, it took a couple months for that to be resolved (they declined to consider the case.) I wasnt "worried" but it was awful to have the delays. I'm sorry. :(

[pumpkingirl71]

Sending hugs and strength

Our daughter's birthfather filed an appeal and the wait was hard!  But in the end he dropped the ball and did not show up for a court date.  At that point, everything was dropped and we worked toward finalizing!  I think one thing about dealing with cps workers is that they have seen it all before, but I found the whole thing shocking.  The social worker might not have told you since he or she just shrugged it off.

I remeber at one point crying in front of the lawyer who wrote our open adoption agreement because I felt that it was too harsh on the birthmother.  He shrugged and said "Most birthparents don't meet the most minimal requirements to stay in contact.  We just like to give the adoptive family all of the power."

[Mom31]

wow... I won't derail but wow.

[alwayslearning66]

The shrugging piece is infuriating. One thing our GAL told us that helped change our perspective a bit is that the bio fam has a right to due process under the law. Whether or not they have a chance, it's their right to appeal. I firmly believe in that even if it drags things on and costs the state a lot of money. 

[Mom31]

Alwayslearning could you speak more on this?

[sagewinna]

I really think it is probably better in the long run that he's appealing... It must be really hard to face the fact that your kids are not in your care anymore because of your actions. They don't have visits or anything, they have written letters and sent them through the social worker though. It is rare that appeals make any difference in the long run on the outcome, at least here, and I am really not worried about that at all. I am just looking forward to having the final word on medical care and not documenting injuries and stuff. 

We won't have the choice of an open adoption, it isn't physically safe for us as past actions of the parents have proven so that's not on the table. 

We are hoping to adopt again, I am not sure if we have to wait a specific amount of time after we finalize to start the process again.

[pumpkingirl71]

We don't have an open adoption with dd's birthfather.  In our state, an appeal is seen as a rejection of the open adoption plan and then the adoption is closed.  I amnot sure if he is safe, but I know he makes very bad choices
 

Originally Posted by sagewinna 

We won't have the choice of an open adoption, it isn't physically safe for us as past actions of the parents have proven so that's not on the table. 

[Polliwog]

So, open adoptions are a legal matter in MA? My DS's sister's family was matched with a child and TPR was about two weeks ago. I haven't heard anything about an appeal, though.

[pumpkingirl71]

I am not sure if they always are?  But in our case, he was apealing TPR (while not being compliant with his contract) and that took an open adoption of the picture.  I am not sure if it was truly legally closed to him, but at that point no one offered him an open adoption.  We didn't, and still don't, know a lot about him.  He has a history of abusive behavior, so we just trusted cps and followed their lead.

 

Originally Posted by Polliwog 

So, open adoptions are a legal matter in MA? My DS's sister's family was matched with a child and TPR was about two weeks ago. I haven't heard anything about an appeal, though.

[christophersmom]

That must be hard, the waiting period after TPR was so hard and then to make it even longer has to be even more difficult. Good luck!

[superbeans]

Just saw this and wanted to offer up some support. Something similar happened to us.... Basically the time period was up for them to appeal and the caseworker told us we were in the clear... then it turned out that biomom's lawyer had filed but there was some mistakes in how it was submitted (not the lawyers fault, the courts) so they were appealing when we thought we were clear. Its been over a year now and stillllll waiting for something to happen. Next court date is in March and they are saying we may get an adoption date this year. Hang in there.

[alwayslearning66]

Oh I am so sorry you are waiting so long. The courts here received more judges during our wait through an appeal which caused it to shorten to 9 months. Our state actually has a statute on how long the higher courts are allowed to take answering the appeal. I was told appeals are denied in 99.99% (or some such high number) of the cases. I presume this is nationwide or there would be far too much funding wasted on this potentially avoidable piece of the process.

[alwayslearning66]

Sagewinna mostly answered you. I just meant that if I felt I was innocent (i.e. the tables were turned), no matter how awful my actions have been, I'd want to know  my right to challenge a TPR.