It's been 7 years since I made the decision to raise my Granddaughter. A decision that I will never regret but not without challenges. I made the decision without consulting any of my family members or my spouse at the time. I became aware that my son and daughter-in-law were crack addicts and were selling my granddaughter to the highest bidder for the night to afford crack. I paid $150.00 to my son and removed my granddaughter of 18 months old out of a house that had no electricity, no heat, the basement floor to ceiling with dirty clothes, dirty dishes and garbage everywhere you looked. This poor baby exposed to more in her short 18 months than I had been exposed to in a life time. I filed a complaint with Protective Services and took my granddaughter home.
She was placed in my care as a foster child. This is not legal advise by any means, but hind sight is 50/50. From foster care I immediately became her limited guardian, which looking back at it I should have gone to the classes and stayed her foster parent. The time limit on a child in foster care is much short for the permanent placement and the state pays all the costs. As a limited guardian I was required to take my granddaughter to a state facility every week for an hour to visit with her parents that showed up less than half the time and we did this for two and a half years.
As a limited guardian I was only allowed to file for custody of my granddaughter and though she is in my custody until she is eighteen years of age parental right were never terminated. Had I been a foster parent parental rights would have been terminated and I would have been able to adopt her.
We still have our challenges to start with I am 54 and she is 10, she still has anger issues with her parents that they chose drugs over her and I am sure in a short time when the teenage years arrive we will be dealing with what happened to her in her early years and I am sure she will give me a run for her money.
She has been a huge blessing in my life and if anyone calls me her Grandmother she quickly corrects them and tells them, “That's my Mom and it's the only Mom I know.”
A great website is www.raisingyourgrandchildren.com there is also a website sponsored by AARP that has some good information.
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