pbkzata is this in your state?the facts that u are giving?cause we are fixing to go into mediation cause the bio is sueing us back for custody of his daughter!and the facts u just explained will give him the legal standing he needs to get her back!Listen he is living with his girlfriend Parents,they pay for everything his lawyer her car her insurance they dont have to pay rent and they both work, bio and girl-friend!so they can tell the mediators that they can provide the nessary needs for this child,because of her parents!!!!!!!!I am furious if this is the case in the state of florida!!we will lose our gd and bio said we will NOT get visation!He told my husband off record we will Never see her again once he gets her Back!which will mean another court battle if we want to see her!

Lost, I can ONLY speak for my state which is Massachusetts. I can't speak for other states, but when she explained this it surprised the heck out of me. So sorry, but I'm not even sure who you might check with to determine if this is the case in your Florida.

Here is something I took directly off of my lawyer's website re: how the courts look at guardianship in my state. No wonder the bios see us as glorified babysitters!

"A guardianship establishes a legal relationship between a child and an adult, but it does not end the legal relationship between the child and his or her legal parents. With a guardianship, the guardian can enroll a child in school, make medical decisions and, often, include the child on the guardians health insurance plan. A guardianship does not, however, take away a legal parents ability to also do those things for their child."

Thankfully, the guardianship I have my gs under is different from the usual one, and was set up especially for children whose parents have been unfit. It supposedly makes a difference and it "determines permanency" in a child's life. Parents HAVE lost custody and placement. The only right they retain is to go to court to gain those items back.

However, now I have to PROVE that in court, because that is being challenged. Nothing stops anything from taking anyone to court over anything. Only the threat of counter suit.

I wonder how many of the bios would get their children back if they had to pay back the support - child support -either to the State or the Grandparent or guardian who raised them for months or YEARS - before they were granted custody back. Probably very few.

Minimal care is pathetic. For the people making these standards and rules, would they want THEIR children or grandchildren to be placed in MINIMAL CARE, or would they want them placed in the BEST possible place - or put in care according to the best interest of that child????????? We all need to be sending letters to our representatives on a regular basis until we are heard.

The constitution does not take a stance on parental rights. However, traditionally, the law has upheld parental rights over any other rights, including the "best interest" of the child. NO state h as identified what a fit or unfit parent is. The problem is what was a "traditional" family when it was written has changed a great deal and the courts have not kept up with that. The reality is that if the bio parent can show they can care for the child, the court has to return the child to the parent. Guardianship of any kind does not stop that.

But the key lies in determining "can they take care of the child". That is the variable point, then.

I, for one, would certainly not want to see our courts start taking away parental rights.

The problem is parents that do not/can not care for their children. Where are the children's rights when parents are declared unfit????

When an adult is declared unfit(old age, unsound mind, etc) , his guardian is able to make all decisions for him/her. No questions asked, other than to produce the paperwork. But when parents are declared unfit, and a child is given to a guardian to care for, that guardian has basically no rights that cannot be challenged by the already declared UNfit adults. Seems like a double standard to me. Unfit adults who are elderly are honestly unfit. Unfit adults who are young are just "misguided" or "brought up wrong" or "uneducated" etc, etc. Doesn't seem right to me.......