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Letter to Guardian ad Litem

This is the letter I just sent to the girls' court-appointed lawyer, their Guardian ad Litem, who represents their interests in this case.

Dear Mr. (lawyer's name), 

I am writing to you to ask for your help in completing the adoption of (real names and birthdates). On November 25th MCI approved our adoption of the girls. We believed the paperwork would go to the judge sometime in the next week and the adoption would be finalized within a few days. 

On November 26th staff from our foster care agency, (name of agency), came to our house for a Family Team Meeting to wrap up paperwork. The staff was late, we were in the midst of packing for a trip out of state for Thanksgiving, and I was impatient with yet another example of their ongoing unprofessional behavior. I asked them to wrap up the meeting as quickly as possible. They left at 4:15.

At 5:00 I received an email saying a Special Evaluation had been opened on our family. The reason was that (Kate) had missed a 30-month well child checkup. 
  1. I knew she’d missed it and was in communication with (agency) through emails saying she was up to date on all her immunizations, plus was being seen for any new concerns such as suspected ear infections; her medical care was not being neglected in any way.
  2. Our pediatrician does not do 30 month well child checkups because they aren’t deemed necessary and I was having a hard time getting an appt scheduled for (Kate) which (agency) already knew via prior emails from me.
  3. If neither the social worker, supervisor, nor licensing worker, all present at the FTM, mentioned an existing Special Evaluation at 4:15--then it didn’t exist at that time. 
No new information arose between 4:15 and 5:00. Therefore, I believe the Special Evaluation was opened purely as a “punishment” for my impatience with their staff during the FTM. 

On December 2nd (Kate) was seen by her pediatrician for a well child checkup. He wrote a letter clarifying that yes, he’d done a checkup but no, his practice did not recommend these checkups for their patients. I submitted this letter to (agency) that evening to prove we were, and always had been, in compliance with our doctor’s recommendations. 

Today I received an email saying that (foster agency) has 60 days to complete their Special Evaluation. I also received notice that MCI is now requiring our adoption agency, (name of agency), to re-submit the adoption application paperwork after the Evaluation is completed. 

I am afraid this will drag on for months. (foster agency) is not seeking a smooth path to permanency for these children. Delaying an adoption, when we have documentation to prove we were following the recommendations of (name of pediatrician) all along, is about the cruelest and most petty thing I’ve ever seen. 

It would mean everything to us if we could have this adoption finalized before Christmas. Can you help?

--end of letter--
*for privacy, all names removed and replaced with term in parentheses

Summary: I hate, hate, hate these people. I believe we've run up against a pathological personality that wants to present a goody goody face to the public but in reality is motivated by the need to control others and gets a big thrill by pushing people around. Every single social worker in this agency seems like a weak person who cannot cope with conflict professionally so they hide behind their bureaucracy and wield it like a tool to act out their anger. 

To clarify about my behavior for the 15 minutes they were in our house--I've learned that every single word I say will get misquoted in a report somewhere. So my policy is to not speak more than the bare minimum required to answer their questions. I respond, "yes, no, fine, where do I sign" to anything they say. I did not yell or swear or stomp around when they were here. I did glare. I was pissed that they were messing with our attempts to get on the road, that is true. So, these pathetic little babies are pitching a fit because I glared and answered in monosyllables. They are horrible people.

I mean, talk about a disproportionate response. She missed a checkup but I had provided tons of documentation that she was up to date on her shots and was being seen for illnesses as they arose. For that missed checkup they will, to quote from the latest email from the licensing social worker who is in charge of the Special Evaluation, 

"...by policy, I must interview everyone in the home privately to ensure that all licensing rules are being followed. Though the special evaluation was initiated in regards to the missing well-child exam, the evaluation requires that compliance with all rules be assessed."

So, they are going to come into our home on Friday and poke into every corner and LOOK for things to show we're out of compliance. All of that for a missed checkup. AFTER the adoption was approved and about five days away from being finalized by the judge's signature. It is nothing but cruel.
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