Foster Families Help Bridge The Gap
Children can be removed from a home in Oklahoma for a number of reasons. Chief among them are poverty, parental mental health or substance abuse issues, and parental incarceration — and that’s why an experienced and compassionate Tulsa foster parents attorney can make a difference.
Any time the child’s environment puts them at risk physically, emotionally, or mentally, the state can step in to protect the child until the parents pull their lives together. Foster families bridge the gap and can provide a stable nurturing temporary environment. The goal is for the child to stay in a stable environment, avoiding bouncing from foster home to foster home. And sometimes a foster parent needs help.
Courts and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services — or DHS — are almost always concerned with the best interests of the child in terms of securing a stable and nurturing placement for a foster child. And both of these institutions work with foster parents toward the best interests of the child.
But both of these institutions often make decisions that overlook the rights of foster parents, both in terms of a child’s placement and in terms of the children and the relationship between the child and the foster parent.
These conflicts can arise because DHS and Oklahoma DHS Child Welfare Services workers have huge caseloads, which allow them little time to gain more than a glimpse of the daily lives of foster parents and foster children in that placement. These children come from complex family backgrounds and often need additional help and support in order to thrive. Foster parents are often required to take children to appointments with supportive services.
Protective services workers may fail to recognize all the ways in which foster care providers look out for children in their care.
Oklahoma is one of a number of states which have adopted the Foster Parent’s Bill of Rights. Now codified, this Bill of Rights provides help and a place to turn to for all foster families and child welfare workers to understand and uphold the rights and responsibilities of a foster parent.
Your Tulsa foster parents attorney will help you understand your rights as a foster parent, and will help you fight for your rights. Our foster care lawyers know that secure, stable foster families provide the best hope for children hurt by loss, conflict or abuse.
Call the Divorce of Tulsa Law Office today for a free initial consultation at 918-924-5526.
Foster Parents Have Rights in Oklahoma
Foster parents are part of a web of support services for the foster child. Others on that team include child welfare workers, the court, doctors, therapists and teachers. A foster parent is entitled to information relevant to the care of the foster child. This might include information about the child’s background, treatment and service plan in place for the child, and a way to contact the agency placing the child in order to receive information and to access supportive assistance.
The foster parents also need to be able to communicate with the adult professionals in the child’s life. Therapists, teachers and doctors all have information that is relevant to the care of the child.
Foster parents also have the right to know about court hearings and other decisions made by the court or placing agency regarding the child. Foster parents have the right to know of plans to take the child out of the placement with them and the reasons for the removal of the child. Finally, a foster parent has the power to exercise substitute parental authority over the child.
The other major area of rights covered by Oklahoma law concern the certification process. If there are any complaints lodged against the foster parent, the foster parent is entitled to an investigation and hearing regarding those complaints. Likewise, a foster parent has access to an appeals process regarding complaints, including information regarding the appropriate grievance process steps.
Mistakes happen, and these rights can be critical to your ability to continue to work with your foster child and other foster children in the future. That is when a Tulsa foster parents attorney often steps in.
How a Tulsa Foster Parents Attorney Helps
A foster family attorney protects foster parents against groundless complaints which can prevent the parents from continuing to care for the children in their care. A foster parents attorney also can help interface between the foster parents and placing agency or courts. A Tulsa foster parents lawyer can help you become a certified foster family or retain your foster family certification, should the need arise.
If a hearing is required after an adverse decision by a state agency, our detailed knowledge of Oklahoma foster care law can provide you the confidence you need to know you are doing the right thing for everyone involved.
Get A Free Consultation With a Tulsa Foster Parents Attorney
The Divorce of Tulsa Law Office’s foster parents attorney provides a free consultation on foster care issues of all sorts. Bring your questions and concerns and let’s work together.
Call the Divorce of Tulsa Law Office today for a free initial consultation at 918-924-5526.
