Yep, can't beat a nightly fix of 'Busted'.

To me, the details sound pretty convincing, though I have no idea how real they are. You could watch some CSI

 

Tonight's question: Is Joe going to end up adopting his niece?

Yep, can't beat a nightly fix of 'Busted'.

To me, the details sound pretty convincing, though I have no idea how real they are. You could watch some CSI

 

Tonight's question: Is Joe going to end up adopting his niece?

 

 

He better, that's all I can say.

Well...

 

Unfortunately there are some issues. He's single. His longest relationship was two years long, a long time ago. (That's not been covered in the story, but it's there) He's never done anything with kids. He only knew she existed as of a week ago. He'd never met her mother or her siblings. He's been estranged from his (and therefore her) family for more than a decade. (fourteen years, but who's counting?) She's in need of a huge amount of intensive therapy.

 

We could apply Story Logic here, but realistically there's no way in hell he'd have a chance. If he talked to the social worker she'd shoot him down easy, but he'd still be shot down. (As far as I know, at least in Connecticut, his being gay wouldn't necessarily be an issue -- if he were married to a guy it'd actually be a big plus, since the state likes stable long term relationships when placing kids)

 

I like Joe as a character, and I think he'd make a really good dad, but being honest he's not in a situation to foster or adopt someone in Stephanie's position.

Well...

 

Unfortunately there are some issues. He's single. His longest relationship was two years long, a long time ago. (That's not been covered in the story, but it's there) He's never done anything with kids. He only knew she existed as of a week ago. He'd never met her mother or her siblings. He's been estranged from his (and therefore her) family for more than a decade. (fourteen years, but who's counting?) She's in need of a huge amount of intensive therapy.

 

We could apply Story Logic here, but realistically there's no way in hell he'd have a chance. If he talked to the social worker she'd shoot him down easy, but he'd still be shot down. (As far as I know, at least in Connecticut, his being gay wouldn't necessarily be an issue -- if he were married to a guy it'd actually be a big plus, since the state likes stable long term relationships when placing kids)

 

I like Joe as a character, and I think he'd make a really good dad, but being honest he's not in a situation to foster or adopt someone in Stephanie's position.

 

 

Not now, he isn't. But: you're forgetting that he's going to end up with Chris, who is already a father, and at that point he'd be a very good candidate for adopting his niece.

Not now, he isn't. But: you're forgetting that he's going to end up with Chris, who is already a father, and at that point he'd be a very good candidate for adopting his niece.

That's true enough (and I'm not even gonna bother being coy here) but still it'd put things off a while, as the state wants (I think) relationships to be at least two years old before they consider you suitable for adoption or fostering. A not-unreasonable restriction, they don't want you in the middle of working your relationship out with your partner while you're working it out with a kid -- that's not good for your relationship or the kid.

 

We'll see how things go, though. Joe's not going to want to lose touch, and I don't think the total time frame of the story's going to be more than a month. (We've only done a week so far, plus a few days) That means I can let it slide some and we can see what happens later... later.

You're overlooking the fact that Joe is a relative. That little tid bit would put him at the top of the list for guardianship with Social Sevices.

 

Sharon

I dunno how much being a relative actually helps if you've never had any contact with the kids in question. (Nor knew of their existence) I'd assumed that it just didn't buy you anything beyond what a random stranger on the street would get -- possibly less, since that meant that you'd had no contact with the kid's other family either.

 

Stephanie's got at least two uncles and an aunt on Joe's side of the family. I'm not sure about her mom's side, yet, but there are family who're at least in better contact with her. (Not that they're particularly swell, mind, but that's a separate issue)

 

Now I'm feeling like I ought to call DCF and ask. Eeesh, fact checking...