-Banks had been in recent contact with her son, and noted that her son lived near his father in Louisiana. The CASA report also raised a concern that, during the dependency-neglect case, P.S.'s father had "refused services telling the caseworker that he would have access to [P.S.] when his parents get custody." The CASA report also addresses the allegations of abuse against the Bartons, noting that the CASA had requested but not been provided a copy of the investigation report. Finally, the CASA noted that P.S. had lived with the Bartons the majority of her life, the Bartons had agreed to allow the grandparents to have visitation, the Bartons recently passed their DHS quarterly review of their home,[1] and that DHS had stated during an August 11 mediation that there was nothing that would prevent either party from adopting the child.
The circuit court held a hearing on both adoption petitions on August 25, 2017. The day before the hearing, the Bankses filed a consent to adoption that had been executed in their favor by DHS. It was signed August 24, 2017. At the outset of the adoption hearing, the Bartons orally moved to dismiss the Bankses' petition, arguing that the consent form did not comply with the statutory requirements (specifically the ten-day or five-day waiting periods for withdrawal of the consent). DHS's consent did not contain any language waiving the specified waiting period, and DHS never requested that the court waive it.[2] After hearing
- ↑ This appears to be based on a letter dated May 19, 2017, which was introduced as the Bartons' exhibit 7 and is contained in the record but not the addendum. The letter, which was sent from DHS to the Bartons, states that "your home has been reevaluated and approved from 5/23/2017 through 5/23/2018 provided that you remain in compliance with DCFS foster home standards during this time period."
- ↑ Despite the court's multiple statements that "nobody's asked me to waive it," the DHS attorney present at the hearing never requested that the court waive the waiting period. Mr. Worsham, who represented the Bankses, made one oral request, but the statutory waiting period is not subject to waiver by anyone other than the party giving consent. It was not the Bankses' to waive.
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