The entire Illinois child welfare agencies
Our Rights... Who's going to fight for them?

Dear Sir:
I am not sure to send this e-mail when I have finshed it. I'm praying it makes it's way into the right hands. I desperately need som intervention. My story is long and I apologize if I don't tell it well but it truely comes from my heart...
In June my husband and I took in my cousins children. 2 beautiful girls that immediatly stole our hearts. We agreed to this only because we were told the parents were giving them up for adoption. They said we had to wait for them to get out of jail to sign the papers. We trusted them. A months later the mother was released from county and we had to return the girls.in November of the same year and the mother called us again and asked if we could keep the children for 6 months while she went back to jail. No one else wanted them. They were 1 & 2 yrs old. Of course, we took them back gratefully. The mother ended up doing 13 months in prison on drug charges... The father did too.
My husband and I called every agency including DCFS to try to keep custody of the children and was told we were to far down the blood line to have any say in the children and that it was DCFS's policy to clean the parents up, not to remove the children. Once again, we had to turn the children over and the mother refused to let us see them for 7 months.
In September of I get another call from the mother asking if I'll take them and put them in school because she had no one to take care of them. Of course, I went and got them. I had them for another for another 11months.
In August of the grandfather was released from prison and reunited with the grandmother who was recently released from prison decided they wanted the children back where they lived so once again, we had to return the children. 3 months later my husband and I gave up our jobs and apartment and moved to the city the girls lived in so we could at least see them. That month, the mother went back to jail, the father was released from prison and the children lived at their grandparents and we weren't allowed to see them.
In August of my husband and I had to move where there was work and begged the mother when she got out of jail to let the kids come w / us and we would help her find a place and get off the dope. The following month, the mother was busted smoking crack and the children were placed with the grandparents thru Luthern Services. We have not seen them since!!! We have been approved for visitation but denied the visits because their Grandparents doesn't want us to have anything to do with them so DCFS abided by their wishes. I can't understand why the children were placed with them in the first place. They both have extensive histories of prison, violence and drug abuse just like the parents.
I recently called Luthern Services and was informed that the grandparents want to adopt which means we will never get to see the children we have loved and raised all these years. Don't we have any rights? I have called agency after agency for the last 5 years trying to adopt these kids. I have followed all the rules and depended on the system not to fail us or the children but once again it has done just that!!! Can we contest the adoption and file ourselves? This is so unfair to us and the children. If you can get them away from the grandparents and convince them you wont tell, they will tell you the want to live with us. Each time we have had to turn them over they had to be pried out of our arms. Isn't there anyone out the who can help us? All of us!!! Imagine loving and raising 2 children as your own all this time then be denied of seeing them ever again. This is just wrong on so many levels!!! Even if we cannot contest the adoption, is there anyway we can legally get some type of visitation? We are desperate. Everyday without them is a living hell!!! It's like part of us is lost. Please help us or at least point us in the right direction for help. We have about 6 months before the adoption and we don't know what else to do!!!

Company: The entire Illinois child welfare agencies
Country: USA
State: Illinois
City: Centraila
Site: illinois.gov

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