Anyone familiar with CPS/laws?

[sunnymuffins]

I know this is potentially a long shot, but getting a hold of anyone at CPS who will actually answer my questions is apparently damn near impossible..

I live in Arizona, firstly.

It's looking increasingly like my older sister's two children (3 years and 18 months) are going to be taken into CPS custody for neglect. Which leaves me with quite a few questions..

If they do take the kids, are they going to immediately thrust them into the system, or will a family member have a chance to take them in?

What are the factors in that. I'm potentially the only immediate family member (their aunt) who is willing/capable of taking them in.. But I'm not sure how strict they are/how that all works.
I read online that to foster in the state of Arizona you must be twenty-one years old. Is that different in a situation like this?
I won't be twenty-one until November. So that leaves me wondering if they can make an exception, or if they're just going to stick them in a home because no one can take them.

I have a two bedroom apartment right now, are they going to make me upgrade to a three bedroom because of the gender issue? Or can they share the bedroom for now because they're so young?

What kind of financial (and other) resources will be available to me if I do this? Or are they just going to let me go into this on my own?

How long do these cases usually take after the kids get taken away? Like, are they going to have to be temporarily placed in a shelter or something while they investigate me/my situation?

Lastly, the kids have two different fathers. Wendy's (three years old) father isn't in the picture at all.
However Liam's (eighteen months) father is one of the adults living in the house they're being pulled out of.

How does that affect things?
For example, if I can get a hold of Wendy's father and he acknowledges that he's not a fit parent, and that I can take custody.. Does that help my situation at all?

Anyways. I'm really hoping someone has some answers/advice. I feel pretty overwhelmed right about now.

[Xero]

First of all, why are you just assuming that you can do better at taking care of your sister's children, instead of trying your hardest to help your sister not lose her kids??? You are fairly young and inexperienced to just be taking on a 3 year old and an 18 month old at random. Do you know what it is like to be a parent 24/7? I personally think you should be focusing on helping your sister get her life back in order, and take proper care of her kids, and you need to warn her of what kind of fate is waiting for her kids if she doesn't shape up. Its like you're just waiting for her family to fail. Do you have any idea how traumatic it is for little ones their age to be torn from their parents, and from the only thing they have known since they were born??? Its not something you should look forward to, its something you should be trying to help prevent. I don't think you really understand this kind of situation at all.

However, I was a foster kid myself, and even after being adopted I was always being exposed to they system anyway due to my mom being a foster parent, and always taking in new foster kids. Unfortunately though, I live in a different state, so all I can do is share with you the things I know about the system here.

Here, they generally always look for a suitable family member first. However, they are extremely strict. They don't give any slack on the age you have to be, which is also 21 here. If you are living with a significant other, you MUST be married. You must (both, if you are married) take a certain amount of hours (don't remember how many) of foster parenting classes. You MUST pass a background check, AND have your clearances (if you were married, you would BOTH need them and have to pass). Your home MUST be approved by an inspector sent out by the CPS office in your area. Everything has to meet their standards of safety, you must have working smoke detectors, everything you could possibly think of, they will be looking for. You have to have proper car seats and proper sleeping arrangements (a bed/a crib/etc).

I know the general law around here is like, something older like past five years old or something like that before your kids of different genders can NOT sleep in the same room. However, when my mom took foster kids, they did not allow kids of different genders of any age to sleep in the same room. Boys were to go in rooms with other boys and girls were to go in rooms with other girls. I guess CPS was just stricter than the actual law because they are dealing with kids that are in a strange place, and with people who may or may not be related to them. Know what I mean?

I'm not sure if this works differently with family members (I'd have to call up my mom and ask her) but you do get paid to be a foster parent, and actually its pretty good money. My mom would generally get like $500 per kid per month or something like that. Again, I'd have to call her, but yeah I'm just trying to tell you that you do get paid. Also, seperately from that, every so many months, they will give you "vouchers" for clothes, diapers, and hair and skin care for the kids. They are pretty generous about it too. You should also be able to almost automatically receive food stamps if you wanted to apply.

The parents can only give up their rights in court, by signing papers. It does not matter if one of them comes to you and verbalizes that they don't want to be a parent.

Have they been investigated yet? What exactly is the problem? Why do you think they are going to lose their kids? The funny thing about CPS is that, they don't just walk into a place and grab the kids and run, like you see on lifetime movies. They CALL you first, and warn you that they are coming out (they're not the cops, they can't just show up and bust in your door). Then, on that appointed day and time, they show up and they investigate the home, the kids, the living situation. They talk to the parents. If there is anything wrong happening that they happen to notice while there, they will draw up a "plan" for the parents to follow so that their kids don't get taken away. They are actually given several chances to make things right, and it actually takes a LOT of time before kids are taken out of the home and put into foster care. The only time kids are immediately taken are in cases of obvious and extreme abuse, like for instance when a child shows up in the hospital who was obviously beaten by their parents. Or anything related, that is horrible and obvious like that. Otherwise, unfit parents actually get a lot of chances and a lot of time before CPS grabs up their kids.

So even if they DO take their kids (and if they're not doing anything extreme, and there is any chance of them improving, they probably wont end up taking them), you have plenty of time to turn 21, trust me.

So please explain why you are so sure these kids are going to be instantly grabbed up and thrown into foster care all of a sudden? And also why you're not willing to help your sister through this?

I have seen too many babies taken from their family and thrust into the system (don't get me wrong, there was always a good reason for it, but that reason doesn't help a baby understand any better) and it is not easy for a little one to cope with something like that. Torn from their mothers and placed with strangers, and they are so confused and heart broken that they cry and they wake up in the middle of the night screaming and they act out and develop behavioral issues. I have seen it so many times. If there is any way to help your sister, you should really try. Having her babies taken away is NOT something that you should want for them. It will be so hard on them, and when you see it in their eyes it will kill you. Trust me.

[1mom.4kids]

I think Xero said it all and I completely agree with her when she said you shouldn't be preparing for your sister to get her kids taken away but helping her attempt to keep her family together.

If the investigation has already started (and I am assuming it has) your sister has a case worker appointed to her. Instead for calling through the CPS call center contact her case worker directly. She should have given your sister her card.

I am sure she will not provide you with specific information regarding your sister's case but she will get you pointed in the right direction.

[NancyM]

I have no actual experience like Xero does, but I understand your wanting to take the kids. I do agree that it will be no easy task, and considering all that was said about the system from X who has been there, it seems like a giant task for you to be committing yourself to.

With that all said, my concern is for the kids and my feeling is that they will always be better off living with a loving family member before being tossed into the System and dealt out to total strangers.

I don't even know if they would be separated or fostered out together. Which would be a big issue to me.

Is you sister willing to give you legal guardianship over her children? I'm not sure how that works, but it may prevent the children from going through such a traumatic experience.

If it isn't too late, maybe you could find out about that. I do know that once the children are in the "system" they will always be there until legal age.

I don't know, if it were me ,I'd try to get custody of my sisters children too, as long as I had the right reasons in my heart. and of course could afford it and provide proper care for them.

Just my 2 cents