Another court update

Yay! Court went exactly as we hoped!

First, they were running behind... well, okay, that part isn't one we planned, but i digress... It was in the same courtroom, same magistrate as the last hearing, so that was pleasant since we really liked him. The birthparents didn't come this time, either (which is both a smiley face and a frowney face if you know what i mean), but i guess that was expected.

First came the trial for the neglect charges. It was just like a "real" trial (well, obviously, it was a real one), but they had a witness stand, cross-examination, the works. Very neat to witness. The sad revelation is that they didn't name D until right before she was released from the hospital (darn, couldn't they have just not named her, and maybe we could have?), so all her medical paperwork says B. G. Lastname (Baby Girl). The birthmom apparently never saw D except right before they checked out either. Originally the birthmom asked for outpatient rehab, but then she had "things to do" and declined. We learned the name of either the oldest half-sister or her family member, so we can maybe do a search later, so that was good. We also learned the name of D's father's brother, whom the birthdad asked to get custody but he has charges, so they couldn't place with him. That's all the news i can think of right now.

Then came the hearing for the permanency plan. As expected, they are going with a sole goal of Adoption. Which means the original perm plan has been magic markered over in great degree lol.

We spent the majority of the time trying to hear what was going on over D. She's a very noisy breather. She sounds congested (yes, we use the blue thingie), wheezy, etc. i think it's because she has reflux. Anyway, we kept trying to find her a position where she could breathe without making so much noise, to no avail. It was so bad the DCS workers in front of us kept turning around and looking (and laughing lol). D's poor attorney (Guardian Ad Litem or GAL) was next to us and at one point, when the judge asked if he agreed with the permanency goal, he said, "i'm sorry, Your Honor, i didn't hear some of that. Did they say _______ [legalese for adoption]? If so, i support that goal." And then, at the very end, the judge asked us if there were any health concerns with the child, and i said, "She has reflux, Your Honor." He said, "NO!" Everyone in the court room cracked up.

In the end, the perm goal of adoption was approved, and DCS has until October 15th to file the petition for Termination of Parental Rights. Once that's filed, there are a few steps before the actual TPR trial, including to publish in the newspaper for a month. So we're probably looking at a trial date at the earliest of late November, more likely sometime in December. After that, assuming the trial happens and TPR is granted, the birthparents will have 30 days to appeal. If they don't appeal, the order of TPR is entered into court record, and we will then be able to file the petition to adopt her. Then we have to get a court date (and i've already been advised NOT to try to finalize in Nashville because they only do so many adoptions a month whereas the neighboring counties do them every weekday), so we're probably looking at sometime between February and April to actually finalize the adoption. Which is actually lightning-fast for a DCS case.

And, last but certainly not least, D is 2 months old today! Yay!!!!!!!!! Maybe someday i'll be able to share pictures lol. Alan took some awesome ones yesterday.