by Attorney Eric D. PuryearWhen Iowa DHS removes a child from the care a parent due to allegations of abuse or neglect, grandparents often wish to step up and take care of their grandchildren. For such grandparents, it is important that they act swiftly.
A common situation plays out every day in Iowa: The mother, father, or both parents are accused of abusing or neglecting their child by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (often referred to a DHS or HHS). A Child in Need of Assistance (CINA) case is opened in the local Iowa juvenile court. DHS asks the court to remove the child from the parent’s care, and the judge agrees to do so. If there is not another parent or relative identified by DHS as a suitable temporary placement, then the child is placed in foster care, where sadly many children suffer physical, sexual, and emotional harm. A grandparent, upon learning of this, wants to care for their grandchild and asks the DHS worker to place the child with the grandparent, only to have the DHS worker give the grandparent excuse after excuse and delay after delay, meanwhile the child remains in foster care and time passes. This situation is best avoided.
The solution is for the grandparent to promptly seek an attorney who will file a Motion to Intervene in the CINA case, and ask the judge to place the child with the grandparent. Doing so as early in the case as possible is vital, as the longer a child is placed in foster care, the harder it can be to get a judge to change that placement. Perhaps most importantly, getting all this done long before DHS can seek a termination of parental rights is of utmost importance, as court will generally not be receptive to a grandparent’s requests if those requests are made after the termination of parental rights (TPR) hearing.
Grandparents have a special bond with their grandchildren, by virtue of shared blood and a family history. In so many cases, a child will have a better life if cared for by their grandmother or grandfather than if placed in the foster care system. As is the case with so many other aspects of the legal system, a grandparent who wants to have their grandchild live with them instead of being in foster care needs to quickly take legal action. Waiting too long will make a case harder if not impossible to win.