I recently got a phone call from a grandmother. And she indicated to me, she wanted to be the foster parent for her grandchild, but she couldn’t. And I said, why not? She went, because DCF said 28 years ago, I had involvement with DCF. I said, 28 years ago? She says, yeah.
I said, how old is a social worker? And she said, she’s younger than 28 years. She wasn’t born when I was involved with them. So I said, what happened? And we went through the history. When she was a young mother, she had allegation of neglect against her. She got involved with DCF.
She went through the parenting classes. She got early intervention and DCF according to her, really helped her. And she said, how was your experience with the social worker? She said, fantastic, they couldn’t have been nicer to me. How was early intervention? Oh, they were outstanding.
How Grandparents Can Fight MA DCF – Video
How was your overall experience with DCF? “Oh, Kevin I learned so much because back then, no matter how many times you looked on a baby’s rear-end, there’s no directions on how to parent a child, it’s kind of trial and error. And I made some mistakes and DCF helped me with that. And subsequent to that, she raised three other children. So now you’ve got a happy ending, right? At least she think so.
Now fast forward, 28 years later, DCF saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can’t be a foster parent of your own grandchild because you were involved with us. Well, the involvement with DCF had nothing to do with anything, but just her getting help and her being available to get help and working with DCF in the spirit of cooperation. So you would think that would not be held against her. Au contraire.
So now she’s wondering how can I go to them for help? They turn around, they help me. It’s a win-win and now all of a sudden it’s a lose, lose when I want to get my grandchild. So here’s the solution. First things first, hopefully common sense, which is very uncommon to prevail in this case. I told her go to the Area Director, go to the social worker, who she has a very good relationship with. She said, very nice girl. I’m not surprised.
They all want to help. Seek a waiver. The Area Director can override the policy statutes and regulations, which is just DCF, bureaucracy, red tape. And hopefully that’ll occur. If that fails, you can always appeal the decision. What she also should do is appeal to the court and to the judge. Get a hold of the child’s attorney. File what’s called a motion for abuse of discretion or the parents’ attorney, whichever parent is her child.
Also bring it to the attention of the commissioner of the ombudsman. Send a letter to the Governor if you have to. Write to the child advocate, well, what you should do is point out the, in an inequity, the inequity, the inequity of this foolish bureaucracy, and it is foolish. I’ve had social workers telling me point white, this is terrible Kev. This shouldn’t be.
This grandma is fantastic. We love her, love her home, everything about her, but because of our rules, because right regulators, because of our policies, the child cannot be placed with her. And I say, phooey, I say that’s wrong. I say that’s not the right thing to do. And when you’re on the right side of the law, I told the grandmother be bold. Don’t be reckless. Don’t be unsafe, but be bold and go bang on every door and tell them how inequitable the situation is.
And I believe she will be at some point in time reunited with her grandchildren. At least I hope so. That would be the right thing to do. And I hope DCF common sense, which is very uncommon will prevail in this case. If you derive benefits from this video, please help others and share those videos so they also can receive benefits. I also kindly asked
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DISCLAIMER
You find yourself in this situation, it’s advisable to seek legal representation from a qualified attorney, like those at the Law Office of Kevin Seaver, who can advocate for your rights and guide you through the complex process of a DCF investigation.
Remember that the ultimate goal of DCF is to ensure the safety and well-being of children while supporting families in crisis.
Please note that this article does not create an Attorney-Client relationship between our law firm and the reader and is provided for informational purposes only. Information in this article does not apply to all readers.
Readers should not rely on this information as legal advice and should seek specific counsel from the attorney based on personal circumstances. Thank you.
Kevin Patrick Seaver is a Massachusetts DCF Defense Lawyer who represents parents against false child abuse allegations.
Massachusetts DCF Defense Lawyer Kevin Seaver has been successfully fighting false child abuse allegations since 1991.