Can I, and Should I, File a Petition for Temporary Custody?

Question by Erin b: Can I, and should I, file a petition for temporary custody?
I’m 18 years old. I just moved out of Massachusetts (where my family lives) to Virginia, with my fiance. I’ve got two younger half sisters ages 10, and 11.

Late June my sisters were taken away by DCF (Department of Child and Family Services or something like that. It’s the new name for DSS) because my mother was drinking too much. I was the one who originally reported my mother back in February. I knew I was moving out when I graduated, and once I was gone no one would be there to take care of the girls. I was their second parent, and had an equal share in raising them.

DCF began to monitor my mother, who then stopped drinking. When I told her I was engaged she freaked out (like I said, I’m only 18) and got plastered. One of my sisters told their teacher, who called DCF who took the girls.

Their father has refused to have any contact with them since the 11 year old was 5. My father has treated them as if they were his. They visit him on weekends, and we have Thanksgiving together (divorced since I was 2 my parents still get along very well). My sisters were placed in his custody. Suddenly their father shows up and demands custody of them. Which is refused based on his past history of child abuse and perpetual drug habits. He makes up a story, gets someone who was (up until this point) considered a family friend, to go along with it. They report my father, and the kids are taken from him. They didn’t bother to investigate the claim.

My sisters are not allowed to contact our mother, their father, or my father. They can only talk to me during scheduled phone calls with a social worker present (I’m not sure why.) My aunt wont take them in because she is afraid of their father, so they are in a foster home. The girls are not adjusting well to this, the older one especially.

I was wondering if it were possible for me to file a petition for temporary custody, if you think it would br granted, and how long you think it would take to go through.

I’m 18.
I live out of state (I’m thinking this might be the biggest problem)
I am ‘unemployed’ but I make decent money from writing articles online. (A couple hundred a week depending on the week)
My fiance, who is willing to help support the girls, works full time, and makes about 3 times what I make.

If I need to add any information, I will.
Thank you in advance.

Best answer:

Answer by Belle
Your getting custody is not impossible. However your biggest problem is not your age, but you currently live in a different state. The court system will want to place them with relatives, if at all possible. But from your story it seems they are running out of relatives.
Call the DSS (or whatever it is called now) and talk to their case worker and see what she says. Ultimately if you do go for custody what their case worker thinks will have a huge impact as the whether or not you are actually successful.
Good luck
Belle

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

2009 Massachusetts State House Medical Marijuana Hearing Part 2 – MikeCann.net 5 Boston, MA With Rick Doblin from MAPS.org Medical marijuana users and their advocates speak out on medical marijuana at MA State House. More videos from this hearing to be posted. MassCann.org Music The ProblemAddicts

Mother, son, another woman sentenced in scam

Filed under: Drug Abuse Massachusetts

… Apt. 3, Webster, was sentenced to two years in the House of Correction, 55 days to serve, and credited with 55 days already served, as well as $ 9360 in restitution to the Massachusetts State Police Association's Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.
Read more on Worcester Telegram

Mass. Gov. Patrick says he will sign crime bill into law

Filed under: Drug Abuse Massachusetts

"Those changes start to move us away from the expensive and ineffective policy of warehousing non-violent drug offenders towards a more reasonable, smarter supervision and substance abuse program," the governor said. Patrick added that he still …
Read more on NECN