How do I get my son out of foster care, he was taken out of his mothers home

[William36]

My son is 5 years old and the mother has custody.  She has kept me fromseeing him as the parenting provisions state that parenting time isflexible upon her discretion and with her present or a third partyagreed upon being present.  All because the FOC would not reschedule the parenting time hearing, they gave her everything she wanted because I could not get there.  I live 150 miles away and she will notagree to meet me half way.   I have driven all the way down there only to have her not answer her phone or return my phone calls.  I have tried numerous times to try to seemy son and she either moves or changes her phone number. I just foundout that she had all of her 4 kids taken from her home and placed in afoster home.  I have been in contact with FOC and the foster carefacility that my son has been placed in.  I am having problems gettinginformation from the foster care facility as they think I have no parental rights as that is what she told them and apparently they do not do any research.  I want to get myson out of there and get custody of him.  This is the second time she has had her children taken from her home.  The first time was before my son was born.   She is very unstable and is only interested in collecting child support from all of the fathers of her children. My son has been out of her homesince January.  I'm not sure what to do next and what my rights are asfar as getting my son from the foster care facility.  I notified FOC and they were not aware of my son being taken from her home as all of my child support payments have still been going to her.  The foster care facility is in a different county than the FOC case.  What do I do?

[trystero]

Guy, the name of the forms may differ in your state, but you should file an Emergency Motion for Modification of Parenting Time.  Cite the current situation:  why was your child taken put into foster care?  Regardless of the reasons you got screwed in the divorce/custody, surely your son is better off with you.  Might mean a visit from child services or something to check out you.....

This shit really pisses me off.  Drug addicted hooking mothers can retain custody but for us men its an up-hill struggle.....

[gemini3]

So, mother has full custody, or primary physical?  If you have joint legal custody you should send (or bring) a copy of your paperwork to the foster care facility so that they know that you have it.

I agree with the previous poster that you should file an emergency motion for modification.

[Giggles]

This is nearly the exact same thing that my brother went through.  He had a long and hard battle with Social Services but won out in the end and got custody of his kids!!

He ended up selling everything he had, pulled up and moved to where the kids were.  Typically, the foster agency is not aware that the father's are in the picture..at least that is what they tried to tell my brother.
What does your court order state?  You may want to look into getting an attorney on this.  I know it's hard, but it may be the best money you have ever spent in your life.  My brother did this and found an attorney that would work on a payment schedule.

Be prepared to have your whole life turned upside down, investigated inside and out.  Drum up as many character witnesses that you can find.  Show that you have a stable house hold and are ready and willing to take custody of the child.  It may mean an "introductory" phase, but it's worth it in the long run.  Right now think "Big Picture".

[William36]

I have been in contact with the foster home and asked to speak to a supervisor who said the worker should have run a background check on me since I have come forward as the father because she told the workers that the father was unknown.  It's such a slow process and I will not know anything until next week but they will be looking into placing my son with me if everything comes out okay which it will.  I have talked with an attorney who is going to take my case and help me get my son full time.  The mother has called me because I requested a child support review and still thinks that I don't know he was taken from her home.  She acts like she doesn't know what the hearing is about and I have not told her that I know my child has been taken from her home.  She was supposed to report any changes within 10 days and just keeps collecting the child support even though he's not with her.  She told me that she has filed termination of parenting rights in the county she lives in which is different from the county the child support case is out of.  I'm pretty sure she cannot do that in a different county when the case is out of a different county.  I haven't stopped calling both FOC and the foster care facility so they know that I am capable and willing to take custody of my son.  I just wish it was a faster process for my son's sake.

[lucky]

Do you pay cs directly to the mother or does it go through CSE?  In MN, any cs that is paid by the NCP goes to offset costs by the social service office.  If it's paid thru CSE, it gets redirected to the state/county and the mother never sees it - at least in MN.

[awakenlynn]

Are you on the birth certificate? or had paternity established?   I would take copies of all your orders, birth certificate or paternity test and immediately go find an attorney, he should be able to help you wade through every thing DHS is going to throw at you and deal with the FOC too.  It won't be easy, but you are the parent and the child should be with you if the mother is unfit