We have a 2 year old great niece ,That since the day she was born has been with us usaully 6 days out of the week ,she goes to her Mother's the other time .She has a room at our house ,her own things and we love her like ours. The thing is her MOther does do drugs and her boyfriend DOES sell them from their apartment .Lately her mother has been getting her more and we are scared of what is going to happen to her. We have NO idea of where to start in order to get custody or guardinship of her .Could someone PLEASE help??? How can we protect her??? How do we go about starting anything??????
This is the thing , there is a father but it is not the boyfriend and the father is NOT in the childs life .He has seen her maybe 5 times by HIS choice .
I was with my neice when my great neice was born by c-section , I cut the cord , I have taken her to the DR. , My husband and two kids have been here family . We stay up with her at night , We are trying to teach her right from wrong. She has her own room with us with her own bed , own clothes and ect. .
We went to pick her up from her Mother's this past friday (her mother nor boyfriend have a car) and we witnessed several drug transactions take place ,with the child no more than 10 feet away .People are in and out of their apartment at ALL hours . It is no place for this sweet child to grow up in . The boyfriend and the mother have a very abuseive relationship between themself .But the mother sees no wrong in the way she is living with the child.

My huband and myself are beside ourself because we do not know waht to do . I pray EVERYNIGHT to proctect her , and to help us figure out the best act .

You were told on your other threads that you need to file for legal guardianship of the child. As the child already lives with you, I don't see this being too much of an insurmountable problem. You need to have PROOF of the living situation with the mother. Not just going into court and saying she is a crackhead. If you know that the child is being endangered, neglected or abused, you need to report the situation to CPS. If you know that an illegal act is being committed, you need to call the police. So, did you and your husband report the drug transactions to the police after you witnessed them?

Yes , we have called the Police twice since Friday . As of today nothing has been done . How do you get prrof that will stand up in court ? and what will? We just need to know where to get started

Yes , we have called the Police twice since Friday . As of today nothing has been done . How do you get prrof that will stand up in court ? and what will? We just need to know where to get started
Have either of them been arrested, charged and/or convicted? Pictures, video tape of the activities going on at the house? Any prior CPS investigations? Police reports for drugs or domestic violence?

they have been arrested in the past ,the mother went to jail in June but it was for a past thing with not having insurance. If I would have had a vidoe camera or phone I could have taped the boyfriend selling drugs left and right . It blew me away becasuse I had NEVER seen that before and the 2 year old was right there ,we just got out of there .
There has been abuse between the mother and boyfriend but the mother never does anything about it because she says she loves him.

We have decided to go to our niece and give her the choice of signing guardianship over to us or we will get the police and DHR in on it . What I need to know is there something I can get off the net ?(we are in ALabama) :confused: We want to have the paper with us when we talk with her

Since you have the exact same post here as you do under the adoption heading, and since I cannot say it strongly enough:

I do understand your concern and your sense of urgency, however, this is not the way to go.

If you go into your niece's home and demand this BY THREAT, at minimum she is going to say F**K OFF and stop letting your grand niece see you, at most, if he is dealing like you say, you will be shot. Do you get what I am saying. THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY FOR YOU TO GO!!!!

You have to exhaust every single legal avenue.

Do you want the police's case to stick? Then give them a chance for investigation. This WILL NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.

Do you want Children's Services to do their job? Then speak to the caseworker. If that gets you nowhere. Speak to her / his supervisor. If that doesn't work, go to the supervisors supervisor. Then go to the county administration office and speak to every person there until you are heard. If that doesn't work, ask an attorney which court handles emergency temporary custody of a juvenile. If you can't afford an attorney, file pro se and do it yourself.

And, I will also add that the best "proof" you can take to court, comes from INDEPENDENT, THIRD PARTY EVIDENCE (such as the police and children's). services)

You make alot of sense ! It is just soooo hard,Our great niece will be 3 in August and man is she smart , she tells us thing that "MOMMY" has said. She can talk like a sailor! She will cry when we tell her she is going to her Mommys place ,and my heart breaks because I can not protect her when she is there. I am taking her to her Mother's in the morning and she will spend the night and be back with us Friday but just doing that is really hard.

Should I contact DHR and talk with someone , should I keep calling the police ?I REALLY do not know what to do ,ALl I do know is We have to protect her. Can someone who has gone through this PLease eamil me with suggestions??? :eek:

Yes, by all means call and report this child's living environment. If he is dealing, it's very dangerous for your grand niece to be there. You can either reveal yourself, which is best, and ask them to keep it confidential because your home is where this child is safest. They will understand if you tell them that the child would be kept from you if mom knows you called.

I would make a call every time you witnessed illegal activity. If your area has a drug taskforce hotline, call them immediately. The more people that do this, the faster the task force can put the puzzle pieces in place and make arrests.

I have gone through this and this is why I gave the above advice. It may be frustrating if initially the response is slow but if you keep at them, if everything you say is accurate, they will work this out for you. My step daughter is safe now. It took perserverance, but she is with me and the county is firmly behind it staying that way permanently.

Good Luck to You!!!