No..... but a grandparent CAN try to rescue a ten-year-old child from a druggie parent. Happens all the time in this country.
“No..... but a grandparent CAN try to rescue a ten-year-old child from a druggie parent. Happens all the time in this country.”
Theoretically, yes. In reality, in Southern California, if CPS were convinced by a complaint from a grandparent residing out of state that there were sufficient cause to remove a ten year old from his biological mother, the ten year old would NOT be turned over to the out of state grandmother, but would become a ward of the foster home system in the county of residence.
If the ten year old were depressed from previous separations from his mother and indicated as much he might be taken to a county hospital adolescent psychiatric unit for evaluation and treatment prior to placement with a foster family. His stay with the foster family would continue depending on the length of investigation, findings, assessment of mother’s drug involvement and Family Court recommendations re mother’s requirements to resume visitation or be elegible to be considered forthe child’s return. He could have been in foster care for a week to the rest of his life. The CPS agency’s determination of the child’s exposure or endangerment and/or availability of non-drug involved persons in the mother’s house would determine the length of recommendations by the agency to the court (which almost always rubber stamps the social workers’ recommendations).
In short, Virgie could have started a gigantic system churning and the only thing certain would be that Daniel would have left his mother for some time, no guaranted that he would have been removed to any better place and no guarantee that he would not have been abused or molested in his foster placement or that when he was returned to his mother (much angrier and more bitter), and certainly no guarantee than when returned his mother would have changed one iota. Sometimes workers just get tired of problematic cases with older children and other significant people like HKS and KE coming forward to vouch for providing “care.”
So, in theory yes, in practice . . . It’s like the happily ever after at the end of movies. It happens in movies. In real life referrals to CPS are a cr@p shoot. A law enforcement person would have known this or would have been told this about the LA county system. Having worked several decades in the system of which I am writing, I don’t believe VA had a realistic shot at “saving Daniel.”