Member-only story
GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDKIDS
The DCF Caseworker Embarrassed Me Right Before I Saw the Judge
She revealed an awful truth
Something changed in me that day.
Words were uttered that I didn’t see coming, and hadn’t considered yet.
I wasn’t ready to hear them.
But they came anyway and hit me like lightning — right out of the blue.
We happened upon each other. My daughter’s caseworker from DCF — Department of Children and Families of Brevard County, Florida — had randomly stopped by to check in with my daughter. Once again, my daughter was playing house in a tent in the woods along the railroad tracks. It was another missed opportunity to document any progress she had made in meeting parenting goals.
When her baby was 7 weeks old, DCF asked me to care for him temporarily and to assist my daughter in completing her case plan for parenting. Why not, I thought. I would help keep the baby out of the foster system while the parents got their act together.
It can’t take too long, right?
Week after week, the caseworker would arrive without notice. I offered apologies for my daughter’s absence. She and her baby’s father preferred the homeless community.
