COURT APPOINTED   

SPECIAL ADVOCATE REPORT

I was assigned to this case through the CASA (court appointed special advocate for abuse and neglected children) office.  I was involved in the case from November 2004 until July of 2005.  During this time I got to know the grandmother, mother and two children.  The mother’s rights to her daughter were terminated because of severe alcoholism.  The grandmother had been taking excellent care of the granddaughter during this time.  I visited many times to the home.  The mother moved out of her own home so that her children could stay in their own home.  The grandmother also lived in the home taking care of the children.  The older son was sent to live with his biological father and the daughter was left living with the grandmother in the mother’s home.  The grandmother and granddaughter had a warm, loving relationship.  The grandmother provided the granddaughter with a safe, clean, loving, secure home.  The granddaughter was enrolled in the head start program where I talked with her teacher.  Her teacher had only positive things to say about the child’s development in social skills, education level and emotional well being.  I saw first hand how the grandmother and granddaughter related to each other.  The grandmother always displayed a loving, caring attitude towards the child.  She was a typical four year old under her grandmother’s guidance.  The child was inquisitive, loving, silly, happy and genuine.  I saw nothing in their relationship that would cause me concern about the child’s well being.  When I first got this case, there was a lot of talk about the grandmother and what an awful person she was and how hard she was to get along with.  I found out that was not the case at all.  She was a devoted grandmother to the child and her brother.  Early on in the case, I knew that they were going to remove the granddaughter from the grandmother’s care.  I went to my CASA supervisors and asked them what exactly has the grandmother done that makes her an unfit caregiver for the child?  I was again told that she was a terrible person and that the child needs a better home.  I argued that the child has a safe, caring home and that she doesn’t need to be placed in foster care.  My supervisors told me that I did not understand what the grandmother had done.  And I said explain it to me.  My supervisors told me that the grandmother was very difficult to work with I said well that is between D.A. Blodgett and the grandmother.  I want to know what the grandmother has done to the granddaughter that makes her an unfit care provider.  Was there abuse?  Neglect?  Unsafe home environment?  Tell me what the grandmother has done to the child that makes her such an awful person.  My supervisor just said I didn’t understand the whole picture and that the child would be better off in another home.  I said she has a home.  A loving home with her grandmother.  She has a brother that she should be with and their grandmother.  They were taking the child out of her home because D.A. Blodgett was mad at the grandmother.  Not because of any neglect or abuse.  On February

 14^th, 2005, the child was removed from her grandmother’s care and

 placed in foster care with the foster family that wants to adopt her.  The first day I met with the foster mother, she told me of her plans to adopt a little girl and I told the foster mother that this child has a good home with her grandmother and she is not up for adoption.  The foster mother told me again how she wanted a little girl in her family.  They always wanted to adopt a girl.  Visitation between the son and daughter was set up at D.A. Blodgett.  On my first visit at D.A. Blodgett, I was lead to the visiting room and put in the same room with the two children, grandmother and sometimes the mother.  From that time on, I was always present in the room.  I never sat behind a mirror, because I was never asked to sit behind a mirror.  I was always placed in the room with the family.  When I had to testify in court, the opposing counsel made a big deal about me being in the room like I had forced my way in or had refused to sit behind a mirror.  I just went where D.A. Blodgett had sent me.  They never questioned me or asked me to do anything different during any of my many visits.  I only got to visit at the granddaughter’s foster home twice.  As soon as it came to light that I was the only one who did not agree with the granddaughter being placed in foster care, the visits that were scheduled at D.A. Blodgett did not get passed on to me.  I went to every visit I knew about.  D.A. Blodgett changed the times to an hour earlier, a different day of the week, skipped weeks and different schedule during the holidays.  I never knew when the visits were to be changed or cancelled.  I was only told by the grandmother.  Never did D.A. Blodgett tell me even though I always told the caseworkers to let me know when the visits were going to change.  They never called me.  I talked to one caseworker about how hard it was to get a hold of the foster family for a visit.  He told me to just keep trying.  When I complained to him again weeks later about the same problem, he just smirked at me and all of a sudden I understood.  I was the only hold out for this adoption to go through.  D.A. Blodgett left me out of the visits at their office and the foster family was not returning my calls.  My supervisors in court would either sit in front of me (because she could not hear) or in the back of the court room.  On my last court appearance my supervisors sat with the prosecutors on the other side of the court room.  I sat by myself.  After much thought, I decided to resign from the case and I never heard from my supervisors again.  This child, lost her mother.  She had a wonderful grandmother to love her and fill the void in her life.  I saw them many times together and felt the love that was shared between them.  Where was the abuse?  There wasn’t any.  Where was the neglect?  There wasn’t any.  What was the real problem here?  D.A. Blodgett.  This agency was very difficult and unprofessional to work with.  I was a volunteer.  I had nothing to gain by siding with the grandmother.  The CASA program or D.A. Blodgett could not tell me why the grandmother could not take care of her granddaughter.  They could only say that the grandmother was an awful person and that she was difficult to work with.  The granddaughter has a brother that I very much doubt will be able to continue to see his sister after this adoption case is finalized. The grandmother is not allowed to see her granddaughter at all.  The child has a biological family.  She should have never been placed in foster care.  She should never be placed up for adoption outside of the family members who love her and have cared for her and made her the bright, happy, bubbly little girl that she was before this whole case made it to court.