Families act as a safety net for those in need of help. One Virginia family was trying to help out one of their own by seeking legal custody and visitation rights for the daughter of a cousin. However, Shenandoah Valley Social Services reports that the family never showed interest in legal adoption, custody or visitation. The family has objected to these claims and has since lost their ability to regularly visit their infant relative.

The Virginia family had scheduled visits with their baby relative twice per month, but social services has since retracted that arrangement and will only allow them to visit the child one hour at a time in the social services office.

The change in visitation arrangements came after the family objected to the claims that they never showed interest in filing for regular visitation, custody or adoption. However, the family maintains that they submitted paperwork for all of those things.

Social services apparently tried to discourage the family from seeking custody and misled them in their attempt to provide a loving home for the infant. The woman attempting to care for the infant is a licensed foster parent for children living with disabilities and is also a licensed daycare provider, so she has the skills to give the baby girl the help she needs.

Virginia ranks last among the 50 states in kinship care, meaning that the state has the lowest percentage of foster children living with relatives. The Department of Social Services claims that there is more to this story and had reservations about giving custody to the family.

However this case resolves itself, there has clearly been a miscommunication between social service officials and the family seeking custody. The hope is that the baby girl finds the loving home she deserves.

Source: The Staunton News Leader, "DSS protest costs Staunton family child visitation rights," Dave Ress, Jan. 19, 2012