Legal Question in Family Law in Colorado
Our niece is 2 years old. Her mother and father are both addicted to marijuana (legal, unfortunately in the state of Colorado) and crystal meth. She is constantly dirty, has not been potty trained, lives in total filth- dirty diapers scatter the room, clothes everywhere, old bags of half eaten take out, dog feces, etc. I can't say for sure when the last time she had a check up was. She had cradle cap about 6 months ago- I haven't seen her in that long so I'm not sure if it's gone away. Her diet mainly consists of milk- still out of a bottle. Her father has a criminal record a mile long and is verbally and physically abusive to my sister-in-law but she refuses to leave him. My sister in law is a waitress and he works in spurts due to his addiction issues. They take the child on joy rides with them, smoking marijuana and meth in the car, until 2 or 3 in the morning. I'm desperately concerned, but am even more concerned that we will not be able to get custody of our niece and that she will remain in foster care if we call CPS because we are A) a dual military couple and B) just recently moved out of the state in which they live. I've consulted the JAG office at my duty station, but they couldn't provide much help and I want to know if it's even worth hiring a lawyer to fight for custody before I do so.
2 Answers from Attorneys
I do not believe there is any way for you to fight for custody. You cannot seek placement except through CPS unless you can first convince the parents to let the child stay with you for six months. If you could do that, then you could file for custody in your own right. Otherwise you have no more right to the child than any other non-parent.
If CPS does get involved and does take the child out of the home then you can seek to have CPS place the child with you but this will be more complicated since you don't live in the same state. Such a placement would only be temporary unless the parents fail to work through a reunification plan and have their rights terminated.
One thing to consider - will the child be worse off in Foster Care or with the abusive and neglectful parents she currently has?
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