Your Child Has Gone to Jail. What happens to the Grandchildren?

Your Child Has Gone to Jail. What happens to the Grandchildren?

A lot of grandparents have to step in and take care of their grandchildren. As parents, we do not want to see our children get into trouble with the law. But when they do, we, as parents have to let the law handle them. They are adults and should know right from wrong. The big issue here is, what to do about the grandchildren.

It is hard to believe, but there are some grandparents who will not take their grandchildren, if the parents get into trouble with the law. They just don't want to deal with the issues involved. There are other parents that will take them in a heart beat. No matter what the parents issues are.

There is a lot to taking custody of grandchildren when the parent or parents are in trouble with the law. Whether it is temporary or permanent, child protection is involved. There is the paperwork, background checks, fingerprinting, court hearings and even monthly visits from a caseworker.

If, as a grandparent, you find your self in this situation, there is help available. The place to start is of course with your local child protection agency. They are there to help. In most cases, child protection would much rather keep the children with family. Putting them in foster care with strangers is very hard on the children. Keeping them with family is a much better situation for all involved.

Be proactive. If your child has been getting into trouble with the law, contact child protection. Give them your information. Tell them you want the children to come to you if things get worse. Don't worry about giving your kids a “bad name” . If they are in trouble with the law, child protection already knows what is going on. Contact from you gives the authorities another option instead of foster care with strangers. They also have access to other services that you will need.

If your child is in major trouble with the law, and is looking at serious jail time, the paper work for temporary custody should be started as soon as possible. You may even want to consider consulting with a lawyer. To protect the children. Someone needs to have legal guardianship to sign for medical care, school, and even mental health care.

Whatever the issue is, as grandparents, we have to protect the grandchildren. They are the innocent victims of their parents bad behavior and deserve to stay with family.

Here is my favorite resource: worth every penny for the advise! Grandparents Rights For Custody And/or Visitation.