Newborn has drugs in system...what now?

[Hisgirl]

A friend of mine's DD just delivered a baby and the baby had numerous drugs in its little system. Child protective services have been called. We thought the mother was clean, but obviously not.

So what happens now?


For those who have witnessed this situation, what have you seen happen?

 

[SteveH]

It will probably depend on a State by State basis. I know a foster mom here and she's said that the kid(s) are removed from the mother.

I hate to sound cold but I think that's how it should be and I can think of other things that should happen to the mother (and father) if its proven to prevent this from ever happening again.

 

[cabanafrau]

CPS may take the matter into court to have the child declared a ward of the court if the father isn't capable of assuming care of the child on his own. If not, relatives will likely be given the first option to apply as temporary guardians. If no relative placement is found to be suitable, child will be placed with unrelated foster parents. Parents will be given a treatment plan to follow in order to regain custody of the child.

 

[Hisgirl]

Father of the baby overdosed just last week so he is not an option. Drugs are so horrible.

 

[Hisgirl]

So here's a question. The girl's mother lives in a different state. Their jobs and home are there. I agree it would be an unsafe release for the baby to go home with the parents. Would CPS all the grandmother to take the baby out of the state back to their home?

 

[cabanafrau]

Father of the baby overdosed just last week so he is not an option. Drugs are so horrible.

Baby will not be released to mom. It's pretty much a given CPS will take the matter before the court in an effort to get services for mom while baby is being cared for by either family or foster family.

 

[OneOftheB's]

I had a friend go through this a few times with his sister. Each time, the mother's rights were immediately terminated and the baby placed in foster care. Family members were allowed to adopt the kids (mom was a druggie who was prostituting herself for drugs, so no dads were known). In my friend's case, he and his partner adopted the last three kids; the first they fostered for almost a year before the courts allowed them to adopt, this after the child had lived in a foster home for 6+ months. The next two were awarded to him more quickly, within a few weeks. All three kids have been adopted by him, the older siblings were adopted by other family members (I want to say there were 8 all together, but I'm not certain). I'm in Georgia, but each state is different. I know the second child they received was not born with drugs in her system because the mom flunked a drug test and was incarcerated for the last 6 months of her pregnancy, but her rights were terminated because of her history with drug addicted babies.

 

[SG131]

So here's a question. The girl's mother lives in a different state. Their jobs and home are there. I agree it would be an unsafe release for the baby to go home with the parents. Would CPS all the grandmother to take the baby out of the state back to their home?

At least in my area, CPS would give the grandmother temporary custody following removal if she was in state and then give her time to fill out the paperwork while caring for the baby. However, if the grandparent is out of state, they will still be notified, but will not be able to take custody of the grandchild until they have been approved foster parents, which can take up to a year. In the mean time if no in-state family or friends take the baby, it will be put into foster care awaiting grandmother's approval or the mother meeting the criteria to regain custody. But, it varies SO much from region to region.

 

[cabanafrau]

So here's a question. The girl's mother lives in a different state. Their jobs and home are there. I agree it would be an unsafe release for the baby to go home with the parents. Would CPS all the grandmother to take the baby out of the state back to their home?

There are interstate compacts that are utilized in these situations sometimes. The fact a newborn is involved complicates the situation because of issues like bonding. The goal of the process will be to reunite mother and child if it is possible to do so safely. In order to uphold that priority it will be desirable for visitation to be very frequent to allow for bonding to take place. If baby is fostered out of state it jeopardizes bonding. Things like the extent of mother's drug history will be factors taken into consideration. Mom will have to be shown to be clean before visitation can happen -- and demonstrate ongoing sobriety.

 

[cabanafrau]

I had a friend go through this a few times with his sister. Each time, the mother's rights were immediately terminated and the baby placed in foster care. Family members were allowed to adopt the kids (mom was a druggie who was prostituting herself for drugs, so no dads were known). In my friend's case, he and his partner adopted the last three kids; the first they fostered for almost a year before the courts allowed them to adopt, this after the child had lived in a foster home for 6+ months. The next two were awarded to him more quickly, within a few weeks. All three kids have been adopted by him, the older siblings were adopted by other family members (I want to say there were 8 all together, but I'm not certain). I'm in Georgia, but each state is different. I know the second child they received was not born with drugs in her system because the mom flunked a drug test and was incarcerated for the last 6 months of her pregnancy, but her rights were terminated because of her history with drug addicted babies.

You are confusing terms. Termination of rights and removed from custody are two different things. The children were likely immediately removed from care and custody of their parents, hence the fostering. Adoptions only occur after termination of rights AND the resolution of the appeals process, if any.

 

[Summer2018]

So here's a question. The girl's mother lives in a different state. Their jobs and home are there. I agree it would be an unsafe release for the baby to go home with the parents. Would CPS all the grandmother to take the baby out of the state back to their home?

I had a troubled student years ago whose Grandmother had custody. DCF was deeply involved. His drug addicted parents lived in the home with them. The mother was pregnant and was put into rehab first. When she got clean, the husband went to rehab. She gave birth to a drug addicted baby who had to go through withdrawal in the NICU. Both my student and his baby sister have special needs. They remained with the family. DCF did very little to protect these children. Heartbreaking.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

My daughter's friends baby is not is the custody of the grandmother because the friend (birth mother) LIVES with her mother. It's almost 2 years now. Unfortunately there is no end in sight as of now....

 

[NYCgrrl]

Again reiterating that it depends on the state. Some states' laws allow the mother to be charged and or jailed as soon as the child is born. Others emphasize treatment first and offer the family the chance to remain together. Nice when the states also have the funds to implement family plans though.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The Rule, people.

A friend of mine's DD just delivered a baby and the baby had numerous drugs in its little system. Child protective services have been called. We thought the mother was clean, but obviously not.

So what happens now?

For those who have witnessed this situation, what have you seen happen?

Father of the baby overdosed just last week so he is not an option. Drugs are so horrible.

So here's a question. The girl's mother lives in a different state. Their jobs and home are there. I agree it would be an unsafe release for the baby to go home with the parents. Would CPS all the grandmother to take the baby out of the state back to their home?

Father of the baby overdosed last week and you thought the mother was clean?

I doubt they will allow the grandmother to take the baby out of state right now because they have to sort out the whole situation before they do anything, especially given the logistics and different states/regions and most likely laws, etc. It's, unfortunately, going to be quite a mess for a while. But the baby needs protection at this point.

 

[cabanafrau]

I had a troubled student years ago whose Grandmother had custody. DCF was deeply involved. His drug addicted parents lived in the home with them. The mother was pregnant and was put into rehab first. When she got clean, the husband went to rehab. She gave birth to a drug addicted baby who had to go through withdrawal in the NICU. Both my student and his baby sister have special needs. They remained with the family. DCF did very little to protect these children. Heartbreaking.

It's strange the parents were allowed to live in the home where the children were being fostered. Here that is not allowed in cases where the children are wards of the court after removal from parents' care. I understood that to be the common standard for these types of cases in the U.S. I've seen a lot of cases where there is a court battle where DHS is trying to get the court to approve a change of guardianship because they allege the grandparent is either breaking visitation rules or residency rules by allowing their child to visit unsupervised or live in the home, but I've never seen DHS or the court sit on their hands if drug addicted parents were living in the children's foster home.

These cases are incredibly heartbreaking.

 

[cabanafrau]

Again reiterating that it depends on the state. Some states' laws allow the mother to be charged and or jailed as soon as the child is born. Others emphasize treatment first and offer the family the chance to remain together. Nice when the states also have the funds to implement family plans though.

This isn't different from the normal course of action in any state when a child(ren) is removed from the care and custody of the parents. Parents are afforded due process and the court will order the development of a safety plan and services provided to the family if the child is to remain a ward of the court. The state is required to provide services to facilitate reunification, not as a nicety, but a legal mandate.

 

[Skippy918]

One of my friends who is a foster parent had newborn twins placed with them because drugs were found on the mom and the babies. The mom was never able to get clean so they were able to adopt.

 

[Marchand63]

CPS will take custody until the poor baby has detoxed - just lovely for a newborn. Yes they go through withdrawals.

Evaluation will be one. most likely if her parents can't get custody, foster care. The mother will be most likely be granted a parenting plan & drug screening in an attempt at reunification. From there up to a judge

 

[Happyinwonerland]

This makes me so angry. Why on earth would a mother put their baby through so much?

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

This makes me so angry. Why on earth would a mother put their baby through so much?

It's SAD!!

But back in the day, there were many women drinking alcohol and smoking all day too. Addiction is addiction!!