Definitely Moving Along for Miracle

Today was the Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) hearing for Miracle. This is where 4-5 trained volunteers review 20+ case files and meet with whoever shows up for each case on one scheduled day. Everyone involved in a case (foster parents, bio parents, case managers, therapists, lawyers, CASA, even family) are invited to attend. The FCRB listens to everyone who wants to make a statement or request and then makes a written recommendation report to the court regarding the case. They also have a standard list of questions that they must answer for each case, like "Is the case plan appropriate?" and "Is there compliance with the case plan?" An FCRB hearing is held every six months for every case where foster children are placed out of their parents' home. It is often the best avenue for foster parents to make a request for therapy or other needs to the court. In my county, there are many different FCRBs to handle all of the cases, but a given case always goes to the same FCRB (people).

I took Miracle with me to the hearing because they always like seeing the little ones and because she is just a joy to be around (not biased here or anything). I made my statement regarding her progress and status. I did let them know that she has been recommended for occupational therapy (OT) twice a week and now the pediatrician is also recommending physical therapy (PT) as well. I'm really hoping these can be done either together or back to back. The case manager came in a little late and confirmed that the case plan was already changed to severance and adoption and that termination of parental rights (TPR) should occur later in August barring any unforeseen circumstances. She also said that there has been no contact with mom or any possible father since before the case was transferred to her in April.

Since Miracle's case is so new (March), they still had a lot of Precious' case notes in the file (files are per mother). When compared to old notes in the case file which indicated a lot of the issues Precious had early on, the review board members were thrilled that Miracle was doing so well even though she is so little (41% height, 17% weight, < 5% head circumference). They were also very happy Miracle was present today and very pleased that she would be adopted with her biological brother and sister.  

When it came time for the standard questions and the FCRB "findings", they answered everything as one would expect, but all the comments made to summarize stressed moving this case along. They want TPR this month. They want the case transferred to adoptions ASAP. They confirmed my adoption certification was still valid (a major hold-up in adopting Precious). They stressed getting reports done. Bottom line, they don't want to see this case again in six months; they want the adoption finalized!