So, at this point the baby's best hope at getting out of foster care is if her presumed father steps up and then passes the evaluations. It doesn't look great that he left and hasn't stepped up YET, but if he passes the stuff, he can have custody. If he's not an addict and has no charges against him, it's likely as good as done.

The mother's aunt is a bit over-the-top with wanting the baby to be adopted out. She wants permanency for the child at any cost and she doesn't understand that it's a process. In her mind, the baby has been taken away from her addict niece... so put her somewhere that she can grow up. The aunt doesn't seem to "get" that the mother has the opportunity to clean up her act; and is being given the chance to prove that she can or can't do that. She's seen the niece try to get clean for years without doing so. She wants to cut to the chase.

According to the caseworker, the mother has refused to do her last 2 drug tests... which puts her on record as an automatic "positive". If she refuses another, her visitations will be cancelled because she appeared under the influence at the last one. And apparently, the fact that this is a substance abuse case means that the baby could be adopted out much quicker. They can TEST to see if mom is still abusing. They can't do that for neglect or physical abuse, etc. How odd to say "what a blessing". Come to find out that the state was involved in taking away her 12yo son, also. They put him in his father's custody, but she lost him none-the-less. She also managed to dodge her substance abuse caseworker--who contacted the state out of concern for the baby that they knew must've been born by now. That caseworker was unable to find the mother, but knew that she had tested positive during pregnancy. The story is that the mother has been in a program that she participates in when she feels like it. She STILL has not enrolled in an inpatient program and she's not adhering to the outpatient one. It's not likely she's going to get clean.

So it's down to the father. I have to wonder how badly he wants the baby if he hasn't stepped up yet. I won't even try to guess at how he feels or what he could be thinking.

Now I just have to wonder: will this little person be OURS at some point? How very strange...