The 411 Regarding this Blog

I'm creating this blog as an outlet for my cause..... which is to fight for my nephew and stop the FL legal system from continuing to fail him. Social Media has become such a wonderful way to share important information with other people and I'm hoping this blog will be shared with the masses and bring attention to the THOUSANDS of children who fall through the cracks and are failed by our legal system.

Let's start with the background info (some of the time lines are estimates, I'll probably go back and provide exact dates in my next blog):

- I have a nephew who is 5 years old. His name is Dakota and he is the greatest gift God has ever given me (other than my salvation).
- I have a sister who is a train wreck and has not been able to care for Dakota adequately, which resulted in him to be taken by DCF when he was 13.5 months old.
- Some of the reasons she was not a good mom are: she left Dakota home alone when he was an infant so she and Dakota's father could go buy drugs (she admitted this to me herself); she and Dakota moved about 10 times before he was taken from his mom at 13.5 months; she would leave Dakota with various relatives so she could go party and do drugs for days at a time; she did drugs and constantly failed drug tests; her boyfriend (whom she later married after Dakota was taken from her) and another male she was involved with fired gunshots in front of Dakota, which ultimately led to him being removed from her custody
- After that, Dakota spent about 6 months living with his Grandma and Grandpa (my mom & dad)
- He called most women who spent any significant time with him "mommy," including me which still breaks my heart to think about
- His father finally stepped up to the plate and asked for his son to come live with him even though he only visited Dakota 2-3 times during the 6 months he was living with my parents, despite only living 40 minutes away from them
- Dakota went to live with his dad & his dad's fiance Danielle, remaining in dependency during that time while his mother was fighting to try to get Dakota back
- Dakota's mom lost that battle due to her poor choices and high risk behavior that would have put Dakota in danger
- We thought everything was going well and that Dakota's father was taking good care of him until around the time Dakota's soon-to-be step-mother, Danielle, got pregnant and broke things off with Dakota's dad for reasons we didn't know about at the time
- Danielle broke it off with Dakota's father and moved out of state because she felt she needed to protect her child from many things that involved Dakota's father and his father's family (we were unsure who to believe because we were unaware that it was Danielle who was caring for Dakota the majority of the time, not his father)
- Dakota and his father moved out of Danielle's house and back in with Dakota's paternal grandparents
- Then Dakota and his father moved back in with my parents
- Then Dakota and his father moved back in with the paternal grandparents
- Then Dakota and his father moved back in with my parents
- Then we started to realize that all of the things we'd been told about Dakota's father were true..... he relied on everyone else to pay for Dakota's needs, he lied, he drank, he moved back-and-forth with Dakota just like Dakota's mother did, he got fired from job after job after job and didn't pay his bills, he would no-call, no-show to pick up Dakota from daycare assuming my mom would go get him when the daycare called her....
- Finally, in July of 2007, my mother found out Dakota's father had been arrested for violation of probation and later found out the reason was because he failed a drug screen for cocaine
- The judge awarded my parents guardianship and Dakota's father spent about 9 months in jail
- When he got out of jail, we assumed he would work to do the things that the state of FL asked him to do in order to get Dakota back.
- He didn't.
- He continued to moved from place to place, while changing jobs and partying
- He would no-call, no-show for his scheduled visitations with Dakota
- He makes promises that he doesn't keep to Dakota
- He was asked to attend therapy with Dakota, but only came a few times


The above list goes on and on but I don't want to overwhelm you.....

Dakota has been in dependency the second time around since July of 2007. He does not have a permanent home with my parents. His father failed a drug test a few weeks ago. His father has continuously skipped or not shown up for drug tests when he was asked to show up. He does not pay child support for Dakota on a consistent basis and only pays when his wages are garnished. He calls Dakota infrequently. He still makes promises he doesn't keep. He lies to the court about where he is living and gives fake addresses so that the courts don't really know where Dakota is going when he visits with his father. He doesn't have adequate housing for himself and Dakota. He still drinks, does drugs, and parties.

Despite all of these things and the fact that Dakota has consecutively lived with my parents since April 2007 and spent the majority of his entire 5 years of existence living under my mom and dad's roof (whether it be living alone with just my parents, living with his dad & my parents, or with his mom, dad, and my parents), the judge may still give Dakota back to his inadequate father.

Today in court judge Grimes (out of Deltona, FL) decided to send Dakota to his dad's house (wherever that might be) for a month long visitation even though his father failed a drug test a couple weeks ago and also had a report from child protective services called in against him that concluded Dakota's father was inadequately supervising Dakota when he goes over to visit for the weekend. The judge is sending my nephew to visit his father for a month when essentially his father has done nothing to prove he is a responsible human being worthy of caring for a child. His father can't support Dakota financially, does drugs, leaves him inadequately supervised, doesn't have adequate housing, lies to the court and to the caseworkers, and a judge is going to reward this behavior by sending Dakota there for a month and possibly decide to send him back to his father full-time after that???????????????????????????????????????????

Seriously?!?!?!?!?!?!? This is only the cliff's notes version of everything this poor child has been through. I don't have the time or mental capacity to rehash every detail. The bottom line is that the FL statute says that children have a right to a permanent home by the time they are 5 and the fact that Dakota's dad didn't make it enough of a priority to do the tasks that the state asked him to complete IMMEDIATELY and ADEQUATELY shows that he is not worthy of caring for Dakota as a full-time parent. For those of you who are parents or who love children as much as I do, I'm sure you feel that if someone took your child and asked you to walk through fire and kill a bear with your bare hands in order for them to return your child, you would have it done before sunset. Why does Dakota have to wake up each day wondering if today will be the day he moves again? Why doesn't he deserve to continue to live in a home where he's safe and protected? Dakota plays sports, attends private Christian school, is enrolled in play therapy, and visits his parents/extended family on the weekends. He has a sense of what a normal life is and that may be taken from him all because his dad doesn't want to admit that caring for Dakota full-time is not something he's capable of. My parents house is the only place that child has ever called home and it's sickening to know that a judge may take that away from him in August. In most cases, parents have more rights than the child and that's insane. If you suck at being a parent, you should not have the opportunity to continuously screw up your child's life and then have another chance at parenting whenever you feel like saying "whoops, sorry."

Do I think his parents should be excluded from his life completely? No. That wouldn't be best for Dakota either. But children need to be safe and loved and cared for. If this is something that a parent cannot do for their child, the child has a right to get that somewhere else. To send Dakota to visit his father unsupervised for a month and potentially give him back to his father will be a complete failure of our legal system, and I refuse to ever look my nephew in the face and say "sorry Monkey, Aunt Jenn didn't fight for you."

Those of you who know me, are aware that Dakota is my world. I would lay down and die for him. I know he can't stand up for himself and the guardian ad litem's office is not fighting hard enough for him because they're overworked and underpaid, but I certainly will fight.

Today has been a rough day and many of my thoughts in this blog may be all over the place, so I apologize. I am working on hiring an attorney, contacting the news stations and newspapers, as well as FL Senators & Congress. I know that there is something that can be done and all I'm asking you to do is to share Dakota's story with others. Dakota is SO lucky to have as many people as he does fighting for him. MANY are not that lucky at all. Children die all the time because of the fact that the system lets them become forgotten. Please help me in the fight for Florida's children and for my baby nephew. I will use this blog to post relevant information regarding the legal system and children's rights & encourage you to add to it. If you know of someone or something that may help Dakota or other children/caretakers who are in a similar situation, please share.

I will continue to share Dakota's story with you all and let you know how things are going. The law says that he should already have been permanently placed with my parents, yet that hasn't happened and no one has held the judge and other parties accountable. That stops here!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. This is the most personal I have ever gotten on the Internet for all to see, but I won't be quiet anymore and Dakota deserves a voice.

God Bless you all and please pray for Dakota and our family!

- Jennifer