What did the CFS say? Did they ask that you and your husband do a live scan (finger printed)? What state do you live? I

live in California and it gave weight to the fact that I took in the Bio Parents with newborn for a month and then they moved out and showed how they couldn't care for Grandson and I called to report. However; the bio mom got cps in their life by disappearing on my son & living on the streets for 2 days with newborn.

Stand you grounds, you are grandparents and family has the right to get family member's first.

Others will come to give advise...I'm at work on break & only had a minute to respond.

Liam. Thanks for responding. And thanks a million for letting me know that family comes first. They didn't ask for anything, they just questioned me a lot and when I mentioned my fear of them going into foster care and the risk of them being placed somewhere else she agreed that is was a risk. I am sick to my stomach because we filed for guardianship to protect our grandchildren and now we have this hanging over us. We don't have any criminal record we're hardworking people, with a nice home, it's obvious that the kids live here, we have a play room, they are sharing a room but when CFS showed up I was home alone and my husband was picking up a bed for the youngest who is 2. We're moving him into his own room. We too have had both kids since birth.

cfs would rather the children live with family than become wards of the state. if you have done nothing you have nothing to worry about. it is fine that two children share a room at that age. and buying a bed shows that you do want what is best for the children. any advice you get you will still worry, but that is what we grandparents do lol. hang in there they will guide you and just cooperate and stay calm and friendly. don't act too cool or overly friendly that sends a red flag.hope this was some help. keep us posted.

The way I look at things is, someone or something made an allegation against either you or someone else. I am assuming though that it was against you, because they are now paying you a visit. Did they say what the allegation was? As far as I know, when they show up, they have to tell you something about what it is they are investigating. For example, they should've said something to the effect of "We received a report that such and such happened and we need to talk to you."

I see it as they are investigating this allegation because they have to by law. I don't know you personally, but from reading some of your posts, you are a good person and shouldn't be too worried about this. I'm pretty sure this too will pass and you will be moving along with the guardianship soon.

Keep us posted please and best of luck to you all.

GrammaLove. My husband and and I filed for guardianship through the probate court. because we made allegations against their mother, probate court had to refer the case to family law court. CFS was here to talk to us about our allegations.

Diana - this could be a good thing. If they think there is a basis for what you said (and I am sure there is) one of two things might happen:

1. They will remove the kids and most likely place them with you, foster care costs too much for the state.

2. They will create a plan for your stepdaughter to improve her situation and they kids lives which she may work, if not you might end up with kids any way.

Mystery - unfortunately the reason why we applied for guardianship was because my SD is suspected of doing some drugs (we think), is dating an ex convict and she threatened to take the kids away after being with us 4 years. She has really taken advantage of us. She's on welfare, but yet never has diapers, or milk. Sometimes she asked for food and NEVER does she buy cloth. We provide everything. Plus we live one hour away and we drive the kids back and forth to her weekly (unless she cancels, which up until we suited for guardianship was often). She keeps threatening that she is taking the kids. Never to us, but to family. We just wanted a little control. Our fear is that CFS will work on a reunification plan, she will do everything she needs to do, to come across as a fit parent and then when she gets what she wants she'll be back to do doing what she does. It's a very unfortunate situation.

Here in NC, it seems DSS will do anything they can to keep the children with family. They have asked me about quite a few things, and sometimes I feel like I am the one on trail, but every negative thing she, the mother, says about me , my neighbors, my house or how the kids are doing gets checked up on.

Hang in there........

Diana-that stinks. You are probably right about her putting on a good show ands then going back to her regular nonsense. It is so frustrating. Some of the crap my dd thinks/thought were just fine for her kids is stuff that I never would have done to her as a kid. Ill be praying that something occurs to bring you a positive resolution.

Diana, I suspect that she tells others she's taking the kids back because she thinks it makes her look good. The fact that she doesn't tell you that is interesting...

If the mother says she wants the kids back, they will most likely set up a service plan for her. That's what happened in my case. I had my son and the mother removed from my home because of their drug use. Family Services allowed me to get my fostering license and keep my GS. I, too, really, REALLY, REALLY feared that my son and/or the bio mom would get their acts together just long enough to get my GS back and then take off with him somewhere and I'd never see him again. If you can go back through old posts, or my journal, you can see how it has all played out in my situation. It's now been 2 1/2 years and the case has finally gone to legal screening and I'm just waiting on a termination hearing so I can begin adoption proceedings. My son still doesn't have a car, his own place to live, or a job. He's still not completely sober and stopped cooperating with his service plan after doing pretty good on it for the first 18-24 months. Bio Mom is still heavily using, recently quit a decent job she had and her boyfriend recently went to jail, so she's moving around from place to place. Neither one of them see my GS on a regular basis, either. Believe me, they acted like they wanted to do everything possible to get him back and acted like they planned on doing just that, but when it came down to it, they just really did not have it in them, and I would suspect that you will run into the same thing with your SD when it's all said and done. Express all of your concerns to the social worker. I always have. I even told my social worker what to watch for when she would see my GS's parents; signs of them using like sweating, itching, scratch marks, pinpoint pupils and track marks on their hands and arms. She wasn't yet familiar with heroin cases because she was a new social worker and it helped her to know what to watch for and gave her some tools she needed. I know it's all very scary to think about the agency having the final say-so on what happens to our grandkids. I mean, any decision can be fought, but the idea of that is scary, too, and some who are on this board are going through that right now. I always worry about family services looking over my shoulder, even though I know I'm a good parent to my GS.

Do your best to cooperate with social services. It doesn't sound to me like they would have any grounds to move the children into a stranger's foster care home. If anyone threatens that, I would get an attorney immediately. There are laws in place to always consider family first for children when parents aren't able or won't take care of them.

Thanks to everyone for replying. Everything you have shared makes sense. I feel a lot better. Especially since a couple of you have said that the state prefers to keep the kids with family. During my surprise visit from CFS I mentioned to her that I feared that if they went to the state they would be taken from our home the only home they've ever known, our home. She didn't correct me she actually almost agreed, but then under the same breath she said our home would pass in a heartbeat as an ideal home for the kids. Who knows what these people are thinking.

They will most likely leave the children with you but if your SD tell them she wants her children back, they might work on a reunification plan while they are with you. She'll have to jump through a lot of hoops to prove herself which she might not do.

That's how we got permanent legal custody of our GD. My SD had custody while under the survellience of DHS. She broke up with her fiance and left both of her girls. Her ex-fiance kept his daughter (he's able to parent his child) and my other GD went to her bio dad (this one was unstable). While there she broke out in scabies and DHS took her away from him. They wanted to place her with family while they worked on reunification but both my SD and her ex lied to the court. My SD said that my husband was in poor health and her ex told that court that my GD got scabies from our house. He also told the court that he had no family that could take her when he actually had parents and a sister that were available. The courts put my GD in a stranger's home while until they could get it sorted out. They found out that both parents lied and after we sent in doctor's notes clearing us for scabies, they placed our GD with us for good. Both bios resented us so much that they rather their child live with a stranger rather then family. They wanted custody themselves but couldn't stand the scrutiny of DHS and refused to comply. So even if your SD wants custody, she may feel like my SD and blow it all off.

Gigi. thanks for your response. It's going to be an interesting journey. The kids have been going to their mothers Thursday night through Sunday Morning. When we picked them up on Sunday my oldest GD (4) told me that she and her little brother (2) sat in the car like big people because the carseats were in the trunk. The bio has been taking them faithfully for the last 3 weeks (skipped one week), since the hearing.