Ask a lawyer on the topic of Family law

Child and Youth Services Authority

August 26, 2009 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Andreas Scholz

Hello, a brief backstory:
I am a foster mother and sole guardian for a child who came to us at one year old, after his mother and he were previously in a family home and the mother simply left and abandoned our foster son, not contacting us at all afterwards. He then came to us in permanent foster care and has been with us for 2 years now. The mother has not contacted us for 10 months, showing no interest in our foster son. Before that, she only sporadically attended appointments when prompted by the youth office.

Now the biological mother has given birth to another child, whom she left in the hospital for 3 days. The child was placed in crisis short-term care, where the mother visited regularly until early July, but made no effort to regain custody of her daughter or fulfill any requirements.

Now the little one is with us and is supposed to stay in permanent foster care, as confirmed by the family court. There will now be a care plan for the new daughter, which raises questions for us.

Our foster son hardly knows his biological mother and has now experienced another complete abandonment for 10 months.

Now to the question: in the upcoming care plan meeting for the new foster child, we will come across the mother, who has shown no interest in our foster son for 10 months and only attended appointments very sporadically before, sometimes under the influence of alcohol.

Can the youth office insist that the mother also include our foster son in visitation contacts, which are likely to be sought between her and her daughter in the care plan? (Note: this would be traumatic for him, as he has already experienced 2 abandonments)

Can I object to this, as I would not want this for our son?

I am the sole guardian, but the youth office informed me that they are allegedly legally required to repeatedly approach the mother to arrange contacts, even if she is not making an effort to see her child, etc. Is that true? (Note: because I read the opposite, that the youth office should only provide advice and is actually legally obligated to act in the best interest of the child, which would go against resuming contacts for our foster son)

The office also told me that if parents do not contact them for 2 years, they can arrange for permanent foster care to end and the child to be put up for adoption. Is that true? Can they really do that?

Thank you very much.

Andreas Scholz

Dear inquirer,

you exercise parental care for the children living with you. Therefore, you should be involved in the development of a support plan according to § 36 SGB VIII, § 36 Abs. 2 SGB VIII

"(2) The decision on the type of support required in individual cases should, if support is expected to be provided for a longer period of time, be made in collaboration with several professionals. As a basis for the design of the support, they should prepare a support plan together with the person exercising parental care and the child or young person, which includes determinations of the needs, the type of support to be provided, and the necessary services; they should regularly assess whether the chosen type of support is still suitable and necessary. If other persons, services, or facilities are involved in the implementation of the support, they or their employees must be involved in the preparation and review of the support plan. If measures for vocational integration are deemed necessary, the responsible authorities for integration should also be involved."

Therefore, you can express your concerns to the Youth Welfare Office. Your suggestions and concerns should be taken into account during the planning process. Therefore, I recommend that you discuss the content of the support plan with the Youth Welfare Office if they have not yet taken the initiative. However, the Youth Welfare Office is not bound by your views. It makes its own decision. Indeed, according to the provisions of the SGB VIII, the Youth Welfare Office is obliged to promote the establishment of family life.

The acceptance as a child can only be done for minors by the Guardianship Court replacing the consent of the parent, § 1748 BGB. The child to be accepted should have lived with the adoptive parent for a certain period of time, § 1744 BGB. For the minor child, the consent of the foster parents or, if they do not give consent, the Guardianship Court replaces it, § 1746 BGB. The Youth Welfare Office is involved in the adoption process. It cannot initiate it. This is a judicial task.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Best regards,

Andreas Scholz, Attorney