http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=228008

This is a good law. The biological parents really have the say, unless the burden for them not to has been met in a court of law. For what it's worth, it's extremely difficult to strip parental rights away.

Honestly, many of them surrender it, after realizing they might not be solid parents.

Some of them don't surrender it and do not meet the legal test for losing their status as parents. We may not like what those people do, but that's not really our business, nor is it the business of the State of Oregon.

Having been a foster parent, now an adoptive one, this process is slow and troublesome at times. It's really easy for everybody to say what the right decision is. It's also very difficult to know if it was the right decision, or sometimes there is no right decision, only potential paths for the child to take.

In this case, the legal path is with the Grandmother. Perhaps he will do very well there. He may do very well here too.

If you go and look at the sex offender registry, that kid is at risk right where he is at too.

Coupla other factors:

Permenant placement, which is kind of what the current foster parents are pushing for, is not the same as an adoption. The state remains involved, and the foster parents are second class parents legally.

Deep, family bonds can be difficult to form in this kind of situation. Ideally, the child should be adopted, or live with biological relatives. Foster parenting is a temporary thing.

There are foster parents out there doing it for money, sheparding over too many kids. Not saying it's the case here, but it does happen.

There are foster parents with agendas too. Taking in kids, then pushing ideology on them when they are young, to "do them some real good". Saw that too. In fact, my oldest son was in such a home when I moved to have him placed with us for adoption. (his siblings were with us already)

Essentially, that law means the best interests of the child gravitate toward their biological relatives. All of us have bias, the state has bias. There is no right culture, bias, etc...

Therefore, the way to settle what's right for the child is to evaluate the biological parents, with strict rules, and let the rest fall where it may fall, just as we do with non-state involved parents every single day.

Tough one, but necessary, I'm afraid.

I agree with KSKD. In this case I think the foster family really have shown they're exceptionally worthy of adopting the child, but my understanding is that the extended Mexican family are reputable intellectuals with finacial means to support the child. With this being the case, the decision has to tip toward blood relatives.

One thing that isn't answered, is the kid a US citizen? If hes not he should have been sent back to Mexico, if he is, he shouldn't have been sent back!

Shades of Elian Gonzalez.

Hardly Matters and Janet Reno are cut from the same cloth.

Herb

What if he is?

He may then be a dual citizen, or can easily return to the US when he's of age to do so. Maybe the Grandmother is a US citizen too, choosing to live in Mexico.

He can also go to the courts himself to address this, if it matters to him, and he's old enough.

At the least, each foster kid gets a State attorney to work on their behalf. He has council and has been made aware of that and has met with his council. That attorney is focused on the kid and has the ability to mitigate harm. Employed by the state or not, core ethics prevents them from doing anything other than working for the kid.

Access to this resource is often just a phone call, or conversation when his case worker reviews the placement status, etc...

His interests will be considered in that court, and that includes his desires. However, those interests do not trump parental / biological relatives.

Think of it like this. Say you are a kid, growing up here in Oregon and your parents move to Mexico for some reason. Don't like it? Then you wait until you are of age to make your own choices, or you demonstrate you are being harmed, or you convince your family that perhaps other choices might be best.

Sometimes parents have to do what they have to do. In the end, the child will get their turn at calling their own shots. Until then, if they are being well cared for, they need to deal.

I suspect most of us have gone through this. And we are all just fine today right? Won't be any different for this kid, given solid home care is happening.

That can happen in Mexico just as well as it can here.

BTW: Most of the attorneys that do this are either employed by the State of Oregon, or do the work as part of a greater practice.

Again, many biological parents do this kind of thing every day. Plenty of kids grow up in different cultures, countries, etc... There is no harm being done on that basis.

The laws are strict and limit the power of both the State and the Foster Parents. This is a really good thing overall. I've seen plenty of cases where both parties try to do too much good, or wish to advance their own beliefs, profit, or just flat don't like the parents for whatever reason.

All I see here is an emotional appeal. "Poor Johnny has to live in horrible Mexico with his Gramma." There is not enough to make a greater judgment either way, which was my primary point in posting on this thread.

The US doesn't recognise dual citizenship. If hes not a US citizen, this should never have reached US courts, he should have been sent back to Mexico and their courts made the determination.

If he is a US citizen, he should have not been exiled from the US!

It does not really matter what the US thinks. If he's got family in Mexico, willing and able to raise him, then they are entitled to do so.

Lots of nations don't recognize dual citizenship. Big deal. He's an American right now right? So that's a done deal, not gonna change.

He may also be a Mexican, or might just be living there for a while with his family. This is something families are allowed to do, so it's not a factor in this case really.

He's not exiled! He's living with family and can return when he is able to do so.

That's part of growing up. If the fam moves, you are gonna move. Why? Because you are not yet able to take care of your own self. Wanting to stay with the "cooler people" doesn't cut it.

Non story, IMHO.

okie, The Oregonian reports the boy has dual citizenship. So he has not been "exiled". Save your rhectoric to attack Hillary Clinton with.

However, no doubt, when he tries to enter the US at age 18, there will be those that will do everything to DENY the kid permission to cross the border.

This just in . . .

There's gonna be a big story in tomorrow's Oregonian re: foster care in Oregon. We've bigger things to worry about. The idea to send a foster child OUT OF STATE to live with caring relatives is a relatively no brainer after you read about the abuses occuring in 1 out of 5 foster homes this state.

About time they did that story. I think there are significant issues and that they are growing with the high case load.

There is lots going on that's just not cool in that program. Been out of it for a while now, but here are some of the biggies I remember:

If one wants to be a good foster parent, there is a lot of resources and options. On that score, things are running nicely. I'm sure that has not changed one bit. Oregon does a fairly solid job of this --if you go and get after it. I still get and am eligible for these services, and the mailers have not changed all that much.

Primary problem is shortage of staff to oversee and general failure to properly screen and or review foster parent participants. These reviews are easily manipulated, and can be sporadic or overlooked if one is willing to take what would be otherwise a really tough placement.

A strong secondary one is related to that case load.

You would be surprised what one phone call from an angry teen can end up doing to a family. That won't be in the O, but it's there and very real.

I've experienced this twice. Once from my own teen. (who knew the system well, largely because she was in it and sharp enough to leverage it --bummer for me! All fixed now, but man, that's a shocker to find one's own kid working an extortion racket, via DCF, CSD, whatever their moniker is today...)

The other time as a foster parent. Took an attorney to sort my situation out, and had I not known how things work, I may well have had to endure a *lot* of stuff, without solid justification.

The parents I saw, when I was on the other side as a caregiver, didn't have those means and ended up at the mercy of a fairly discriminatory and biased bureaucracy. Wasn't pretty at all. Lots of room for improvement in that area, IMHO.

Very tough to let it happen. Was in a tough spot, seeing some serious harm happen and not able to do much, because of the position.

The biggie though, which I suspect will be in the O, happens to be some foster parents that don't get it, push an agenda, are too aggressive on dicipline, etc...

They have some really great parenting training classes to deal with that stuff too. All one needs to do is go attend, ask questions and get some contact numbers.

I needed this huge to get my kids sorted out. Took a lot --abuse would have been easier, by way of an example of just how tough the job can be.

Looks like I'll snag a copy tomorrow.

Are going to start sending other citizens out of the country to non citizen relatives? This is a very bad precedent. Frankly sending a kid out of the country shouldn't even be an option...Shame on the state....this is utter stupidity.

Stupid? Hmm . . . do you know how foster kids are often treated IN STATE by non-relatives? Better? Hmm?