CASA & Court

So sorry I have not updated in soooo long. I really intend to do better at blogging and then....well, the next thing I know the time has passed and I have not blogged. I had another blog before this one and I blogged faithfully everyday. Sometimes more than once a day and it was such a help for me to deal with my thoughts and emotions. And that was before we were fostering!!!!

One week prior to the court date -out of the blue I suddenly receive a phone call from the boys CASA worker that had been assigned. The boys had then been placed with us a little over 6 months and now we get a call from CASA a week before the next court date and it is urgent that she come out before court.
We set a day and time.
She calls that day 20 mins after the time she should have been here and reschedules.
She come Sunday evening before court on Tuesday.
We express to her over and over our biggest concern is that the older brothers behavior problems really effect the younger brothers that are placed with us. We stress over and over how when the younger boys that are placed with us interact with the older brothers they act totally different. I have been stressing this in every meeting, every permanency conference, conversations and emails to the boys social worker. The CASA worker's visit is about 3 hours or so long. She was very nice but again she has not been around the past 6 months AT ALL.

Okay, on to the court date. I get to court, the social worker and I pull into the parking lot at the same time and walk to the courthouse together. The boys parents are walking in as we are walking up. We all said good morning. The social worker goes on into the courtroom and sits with all of the other folks from the department. I stand outside the courtroom and talk with the parents for a minute and give them pics of the boys from Halloween and from the State Fair. Mom & Dad loved the pics and thanked me for them.

We went into the courtroom and then the Great Aunt came in. Now she has not been to a visit since the being of Oct or end of Sept....it's been so long one could lose count by now. I sit with the parents and the Great Aunt. The Great Aunt was very polite and talks quietly with the parents and I until the CASA worker comes over and asks to speak with her outside the courtroom. This is the first and only time CASA spoke with her.

Court starts, after two cases we are finally called.
Judge talks to Case Worker.
Judge talks to -yep you guessed it CASA worker.
Judge talks to attorneys.
You know the drill. This time judge talks to everyone but the foster parent. Last time they had some questions for me. But this time nothing. Several questions for CASA and took many recommendations from CASA.

Great Aunt's homestudy is complete and waiting to be signed off by a supervisor and then must complete the ICPC process to make it's way back to our state/county. Judge then state she will grant a visit to the Great Aunt's house for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The boys went to the Great Aunt's house the next day at 10am for five very long days during Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day was Big Boys birthday and he turned 4. CASA recommended all four boys go together for the entire visit. The parents were granted a 3 hour visit on Thanksgiving Day (yeah right).

Since the moment we put Big Boy & Little Man in the car after the visit we have been having behavior problems that we have never had before. Especially with Little Man. Things have just started getting better this past week. Just in time for this next visit that looks like it will have to happen since we do not go back to court before Christmas and the judge has already granted this visit.

The judge granted the Christmas visit and it looks as though it is going to happen......The CASA worker came to our home the Wed after the boys returned home from the visit to the Great Aunt's because I was emailing and reporting the behavior issues we were having.

The CASA worker said, you know I am in training and I did not want all four boys to go to the Great Aunt's house at the same time for the visit but my coworker said let them all go and this Aunt will see she does not want them all and well, you know what she was right.

I looked at the CASA worker and said you know, your coworker was right (I began to choke up and get teary eyed) but your coworker was right at the expense of these two little boys that you are looking at right now. At their expense. That is what I have been speaking up all this time to avoid.....