Getting my sister (kinship question)
My 14 year old sister was taken into state's custody recently due to severe abuse and drug use in her home (both parents are in active addiction). Reunification is highly unlikely in her situation.
She is currently visiting with me for two weeks. When I picked her up from her current foster home for this visit, I found the home to be in a very nasty state (animal excrement everywhere, lots of mold, ect). I'm not saying I expected a perfect home, but I would consider this unfit for children to live in.
She asked if she could come live with me and I am very open to the idea. I'm 35, married, and have a 12 year old daughter who loves my sister. I have a stable career and pleanty of room in my home.
I want to do anything and everything I can to help my sister. My grandma was able to take me in when this happened many years ago to me, but now our grandparents are dead and my sister doesn't have that same safety net. No other family member wants to take her.
I have two questions. My first question is - can distance hurt my chances of getting her?
We live in the same state (Tennessee) but we are about 5 hours away from each other. She's in east TN in a very rural area, I'm in west TN in Memphis. I don't want to tell my her 'yes of course you can come' - if it's unlikely the state will let her come.
My second question is what is the best way to get this process started? Do I just call the DHS office in her county? I'd like to get her here before school starts in August. Could the process move that fast?