Mom has lost custody but Arizona is making me fight for my daughter.

[Raybag]

I live in Northern California. My 10 y.o. daughter has lived with her mother in Arizona for the last 7 years. The child support was set in California before she left and that remains here. There was never a case to determine custody or visitation. As a result in those 7 years I have had one 2 hour visit with her. I have sent her cards, letters, birthday and Christmas presents but I do not know how many she actually recieved. Other attempts to visit with my daughter resulted in her being sent of to stay with her Great Grand Parents so that she was "Not Available".
Now I have found thru separate sources that my daughter has been taken from her mothers home by Child Protective Services in Arizona. After some 30 phone calls to 10 different offices I was able to sit in on one of the hearings concerning my daughter. Long story short, CPS wants to place my daughter with her 75 year old Great Grand Parents. Their reasons are two fold, my daughter knows them better and Arizona will be able to keep control of her future.  Arizona is putting me thru a Home Study but CPS has basically told me this is a formality and they will still push to have my daughter placed with the G.G.Ps. Just wondering if anyone knows of any options I may have?

[Davy]

Sorry I can't remember all the legal jargon (hopefully others will) but a natural parent has far superior rights to their child and a GP has virtually ZERO rights to a child except in a situation where the parent is deceased or incarciated and the other parent has no standing..  Of course,  basically the same holds true when considering a state government agency ... the natural parent is far more superior and adequate when held-out as harmless.

In your situation, when considering one of your next steps is the determination of home state jurisdiction. Assumming your daughter resided in Ca. prior to being removed to Az. (the foreign state) and since the left-behind parent (that would be you) still resides in Ca. then Ca. will clearly be considered entitled to "Home state" jurisdiction which means you should file Ex-Parte (without notice) Emergency Motion for Temporary Custody in your Ca. court with a demand  to return the child to your custody in Ca.  In a practical sense, be prepared to accept a reunification period and a trip to Az. to gather the child.  This would be an order for original custody since no other custody orders exist.  The defining jurisdiction statues in all states are part of a national standards act (like interstae transportation) known as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) and accompaning federal statues known as the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA).

It might be wise to retain "rule of law" type legal counsel (vs custody attorneys) experienced with interstate custody matters. In my experience, they were pro-fathers rights and less expensive.  Also, you might be money ahead to consider hiring an experienced paralegal to gather some relevent statues concerning your parental and constitutional rights vs the GP and the state as well as jurisdiction before interviewing attorneys and making decisions.   


At this point, you should just tell CPS to return your child.  But CPS is full of black booted thug feminest types that will gladly but illegally claim power and control over the child and basically consider you as virtually non-existent or a "Check Book" and tell you to continue sending those CS checks (and they will also claim entitlements from the Federal govt. ... the rest of us.  They have destroyed many children.

Others may post but whatever please come back with more questions or concerns.  More importantly, don't be afraid of the system and focus on your child.   

[Spaceman1982]

At this point, you should just tell CPS to return your child.  But CPS is full of black booted thug feminest types that will gladly but illegally claim power and control over the child and basically consider you as virtually non-existent or a "Check Book" and tell you to continue sending those CS checks (and they will also claim entitlements from the Federal govt. ... the rest of us.  They have destroyed many children.

Others may post but whatever please come back with more questions or concerns.  More importantly, don't be afraid of the system and focus on your child.   

quoted for truth!

[txmom702]

I guess y'all missed the part where he said he hasn't seen his child in SEVEN YEARS and that he is a complete stanger to that child.
Yes - that's better.  Take her away from her family, that she knows and loves and hand her over to a man who is a complete stranger to her.  That's certainly what's best for a girl that age.....    BAER....

[Spaceman1982]

guess you missed the part where he has tried but since no court ordered it the mom wasnt helping.

they should hopefully place child with a parent as apposed to grand ones.

[txmom702]

If he currently has no relationship with the child and the child is in a place where she is safe and her needs are provided for, then he is not going to get custody any time soon.   The bottom line is that dad is a total stranger to his child. The odds of him walking into a courtroom and walking back out with full or primary custody of his child are incredibly slim.  The court will be looking at the best interests of the CHILD...

This child is a human being, with feelings and emotions of her own, and he is trying to forcibly remove her from the only home she has ever known. If he is not careful, he risks ending up with a resentful, traumatized adolescent/teen who hates him and wants nothing to do with him.

In order to establish a relationship with the child, there are no shortcuts. He would ask for visitation rights with some reintroduction period.  Then, over the years, he might be able to increase visitation and possibly even obtain custody, but that's well down the road - if it happens at all. And he would be paying child support in the interim.

[Kitty C.]

You're certain of that?

[tigger]

Speaking as a kid whose NCP suddenly showed back up, had anything happened to my CP, I would have begged the courts to please send me to my grandparents' or aunts' to live, even if it meant I wouldn't have been with my siblings (there were four of us, two from first marriage, two from second).  At least I knew them and had a relationship with them.  I hadn't seen the NCP for a few years and would have been devastated being forced to live there without first establishing a relationship.  Even if my brother and I both moved in with the NCP, I would have preferred my grandparents or aunts. 

[txmom702]

You're certain of that?

Honestly, this scenario is not unique.  And I ran it by a CASA, a GAL, and an attorney - these are their answers.
So ummm yeah, I'm fairly certain....

A judge will not take a child away from the family that it knows and give it to a person they don't know at all.  Regardless of biology.

There is also the fact that dad is out of state.  According to an attorney:
"If the state removes the child they are LEGALLY NOT ALLOWED to place the child with someone in another state without an INTERSTATE COMPACT being completed and approved by the other state. Unless and until that happens, the child will NOT be placed with someone in another state by a state agency. They can NOT do that under the law. If they did, the agency doing the placement could find themselves in major trouble legally.   An interstate compact could take several months to complete."

Best dad can hope for right now is a visitation schedule w/ an introductory period... 

[ocean]

The law is bio parents have custody first. Now, he may have to do getting to know you visits first and have child stay in school district until they form a bond and at least meet. Slowly he should be able to get more and more time with her and then full custody. Right now child's homestate is in control and giving someone in their state temp custody while things are straightened out.