If a parent has one child taken by the state, will the state know of new births?

[Tap]

DD3's bio-mom, my great-niece has had one child,(was then a 5yo boy) taken by the state and given to his bio-father with sole-custody. DD3 was taken at birth and given to us at 5mths (baby was with gma till then), permanently at 2 years. I just found out that she has a 10 day old baby. Would the hospital notify the state, or would a flag go up and thus the state be notified when the birth certificate is filed?

 

She hadn't abused the kids or I would call the state myself, I don't think the baby is in danger in anyway, she just bucks the law and lives in a conspiracy theory world. She lost both children temporarily due to crimes/convictions she committed as a teen and she never dealt with them. Instead of conforming for a short time to get her kids back, she bucked the system, threatened to sue (no case), and time ran out for her @24mths the kids were permanently placed.

 

We are the 'go to' people in the family if there any problems with her kids due to our history with CSD and being foster parents. I am wondering if I should be expecting a call from the state.....:confused:

[unsinkable]

DD3's bio-mom, my great-niece has had one child,(was then a 5yo boy) taken by the state and given to his bio-father with sole-custody. DD3 was taken at birth and given to us at 5mths (baby was with gma till then), permanently at 2 years. I just found out that she has a 10 day old baby. Would the hospital notify the state, or would a flag go up and thus the state be notified when the birth certificate is filed?

 

She hadn't abused the kids or I would call the state myself, I don't think the baby is in danger in anyway, she just bucks the law and lives in a conspiracy theory world. She lost both children temporarily due to crimes/convictions she committed as a teen and she never dealt with them. Instead of conforming for a short time to get her kids back, she bucked the system, threatened to sue (no case), and time ran out for her @24mths the kids were permanently placed.

 

We are the 'go to' people in the family if there any problems with her kids due to our history with CSD and being foster parents. I am wondering if I should be expecting a call from the state.....:confused:

 

No answers but a :grouphug:. I can see how this might be weighing heavily on you and your family.

[KrissiK]

Well, I was just discussing this with my sil (an OB/Gyn) today. My own children are #4&5 of their b-mom and over the years I've been half expecting a call from CPS saying she's had another. In California, they will not necessarily be removed. The only time CPS is automatically called in is when the baby is born with drugs in the sytem. From what I understand, if a woman gives her real name and says she's had no prenatal care, she will be talked to by a social worker. They ask if she's had other kids removed. If she says "no", then they don't investigate too much.

[Ferdie]

My son was removed from his birth mom in the hospital. Less than two years later she gave birth to another child whom she kept. I was with her in the hoptial with the birth of her second and she never received a visit from a social worker while at the hospital. Not sure about later though.

 

My birth mom of my other two children had more children that she was able to keep. I think that social services was involved initially, but they felt that her situation had changed, (father had supportive extended family) and she was able to keep her other two children.

 

This was in Los Angeles.

 

ETA - years later we got a call from social services. One of the birth moms was going to jail and they wanted to know if we would take her newborn. Two days later they called back to say they found the baby and she was in excellent condition. The bio dad family decided to step in and help out so we never got to care for that child.

Edited December 27, 2009 by Ferdie

[MotherMayI]

My dd is the youngest of several siblings that her bm lost custody to. When dd was born there was a "flag" sent out to dshs. The state chose not to inform the foster/adoptive parents of her 2 older brothers due to the fp age and the needs of the boys. We were told that if bm does have another child we will get the call. I live in the same state as you- and so I think that if a woman has a child removed and her rights terminated the hospital will inform the state. I would be ready for a call- but she may have slipped through the cracks. Best wishes.

[Cathy in IL]

It depends. Normally they seem to flag these births. I have seen plenty of babies not get flagged though because of the mom lying or the hospital staff just not following through. My dd's biomom told the hospital she had 8 other children. What she did not tell them was they had all been taken from her and one had died from neglect. The hospital staff never asked and didn't know her history because she left the state to deliver my dd.

[Momto5]

In response to your initial question "If a parent has one child taken by the state, will the state know of new births," the answer is "it depends." Child protection laws, regulations, and policies vary greatly from state to state. I believe some states have state-wide tracking systems that provide a database which hospitals can check to see if a mother has had a child removed. However, even in these states, hospitals are generally not required as a matter of course to check the database. In addition, if the mother gives a different name, she may not be found on the database.

 

Other states do not have a state-wide database but a county-wide database. If this is the case, if the mother gives birth in a different county from the county that removed previous children, the state will probably not know of a new birth.

 

I know this is not particularly helpful but I do understand your concern. We are foster parents, have adopted our last 3 foster children, and are waiting to see how the state will handle the case of one of our children's birth moms who gave birth in early December.

[2squared]

In Minnesota, if an adult has had their parental rights terminated AND has any other children living in the home, the district attorney/child welfare people AUTOMATICALLY take the other children (regardless if bio children or not) out of the home once they find out that the prior rights were terminated. The problem is finding out about children living with these adults.

 

My dh is in the midst of trying to sever parental rights of an abusive couple right now. This particular couple has been moving around the state to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Dh feels that he may these kids' last hope to get out of the abuse since the parents will flee to another jurisdiction once this trial is over. :angelsad2: It's just so sad and frustrating.

[Cricket]

A woman I know has had three of her children taken from her. She was charged with neglect of her twin boys and they were eventually adopted by another family. A baby girl was born later with a lot of health problems (could have been drug related) who never even went home with the mom and has been adopted. She had another baby about a year and a half ago and ever since he was born CPS has been involved. The baby wasn't taken away and CPS makes frequent visits to the house. The baby seems to be doing fine. I know one of CPS' rules was that the baby was not to ever be left alone with the mother. I think she has since gotten better at being a mom. I'm not sure how CPS knew she had another baby. Maybe if they received other government assistance, a worker noted her pregnancy (although she didn't even look pregnant at 34 weeks!) or a family member reported it. :confused: I think they have Medicaid so maybe someone there knew she was "flagged".