Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

DCFS wont let us see our grandbaby

Two months ago DCFS put our grandbaby on a safety plan that involved her living at an aunts house she didnt know. Her mom and dad both tried to sign over temporary gaurdianship to us but DCFS came in to the court room and fought it and won. They them did an emergency hearing to make her a temporary ward of the state. The court date for our daughter isnt until September and we are being told that we can only see our grandbaby once a month for 2 hours as long as the visits are supervised even though I was approved by DCFS to watch her. With the State budget cuts DCFS turned my grandbaby to Lutheran Social Services and the case worker doesnt ever call us back. My daughter is wanting us to adopt our grandbaby but we are being told different things by different attorneys. Can we adopt our grandbaby even though she is a temporary ward of the state. What should we do? Before DCFS stepped in we had our grandbaby everyweekend and many nites during the week. We wants whats best for her but it seems like the more we try to get her back the madder we make DCFS and Lutheran Social Services and the less they let us be involved.


Asked on 7/09/09, 11:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Steele Steele Law Firm

Re: DCFS wont let us see our grandbaby

DCFS is an agency out of control. I have dealt with them, and fought with them. This sounds self serving, but you must get an attorney to fight them. You will not intimidate those people, and you will likely lose in court. DCFS can be beaten, but you need to take them to court. And you need to move fast, the longer the child is with Lutheran Social Services, the harder to get her back. The only thing DCFS responds to is a legal fight, they will blow you off until they find a new family to place the child in and then they will tell you "too bad, the child is gone". The fact that DCFS is responsible for protecting children in Illinois is a unbelievable, and the number is children they harm is a tragedy.

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Answered on 7/10/09, 10:21 am


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