Advice Needed
I have a set of kiddos who have been with me for 3 months so far. Their family recently went to court, and the youth officially became wards of the state, and parents' rights are still intact, of course. There were intact services before that brought the kids into the state's custody, which the parents also did not comply with at all. Kiddos are in for neglect due to parents having some severe mental health impairments. Well, here is where my struggle comes in. Parents are not working their plan at all as a result of the mental health issues; they are refusing to because they don't believe in it. Kiddos see their parents weekly for visits, and at the visits, parents are telling the kids that they will be coming home soon, despite the court's rulings. All caseworkers are telling us to tell the kiddos not to get their hopes up high because the parents have not been making progress. This is our first set of kiddos, and we aren't sure how to navigate those conversations. Everything in this case is looking like this will be long-term, and the team and us believe it will be due to the severity of the mental health concerns, but the parents are telling the kids otherwise.