Posted by Jarek on 10/29/13

More | Report Post

My partner and I are wondering if foster families are able
to sue DYFS? We have been fostering 2 teen brothers for 2
and 1/2 years. After serious efforts we had decided that we
were not equipped to help them with their severe delays and
could not adopt them. That decision essentially blacklisted
us from getting any other children placed for 9 months.
Over this past summer we were offered an opportunity to
take in a 5 y/o with PTSD. The case worker emphatically
told us that because of our "history" with the other boys,
they would need our "100% commitment" to adopt this boy.
After 10 minutes meeting this child, he had our hearts. He
instantly took to our entire family. For the first time in
years we had a happy home. Less than 2 weeks ago, an
allegation of inappropriate contact between a previous
foster child and a current foster child was made. It had
nothing to do with us as a resource family, nor did it have
anything to do with the 5 y/o. The investigator spoke with
each member of the family for 5 minutes or less. We were
shocked at the allegations and knew they were baseless. The
investigator told us not to worry-- it was just something
they had to look into. Less than 12 hours later, the case
worker for all 3 boys called to tell us that the boys were
being removed for the duration of the investigation. They
picked up their items and got the boys from their schools-
we did not get a chance to see them before they were taken
away. Our hearts broke. Here is the crux of the story, I
found out from another parent that she overheard the case
worker tell the teacher that the 5y/o will not be coming
back to the school. So on the same day he was removed from
our home, he was already planned to go to a different
school in a different area (which is something we were told
DYFS NEVER does. Our 2 older children were moved to a
shelter. Not even a foster home, but a shelter! I found out
3 days later that DYFS had already placed the 5y/o with an
adoptive family. The allegations were already found to be
untrue, and the child confessed to lying about the story.
In the meantime my partner and I have been suffering with
great emotional distress. The law guardian for the 2 older
boys asked if we would take those 2 back. These boys have
spent half their lives in DYFS, and now thrown into
shelters, having accusations that they are too
intellectually immature to handle, and have needed to be
severely medicated since being removed. I'm sorry for being
so long winded but I need to get this out. I understand the
need for an investigation, but removing 2 children who had
nothing to do with the allegation, and then giving away a
child who was supposed to be adopted by us "ASAP" (in
DYFS's terms), well it's just cruel. Our family has been
torn apart. No one, and I do mean no one, at the local
office will take our calls or return our messages. We only
got the information previously mentioned by people who saw
the great love we give to all our kids and wanted to tell
us anything they could. Is there anything that can be done?
Can DYFS be sued in any way for the emotional distress that
has been caused to the 5 of us? Not just for myself and my
partner, but for the fact they had promised us this child.
We rearranged our life to take this boy in. He was part of
our family for 3 months. And then all of them are gone. I
will likely never see my 5y/o again. I am a broken hearted
dad and we are a broken hearted family. If anyone has any
ideas on how we can file a complaint, sue, or whatever,
please share the information. Please help my family.

Can a Foster family sue DYFS?, 10/29/13, by Jarek.

Equal Rights Chatboard

LATEST POSTS | BY TOPICS | SUBMIT A POST