I have been trying to write a post about Abuela, the grandmother of my former student, Jorge, who's currently incarcerated. (Read the links if you want to catch up!)
The reason it's been so hard to write is because it has been so incredibly discouraging. Abuela has been trying to get custody of her granddaughter and it has been a mess. The social worker didn't give her the right paperwork, then the social worker quit, she's been calling and no one spoke Spanish, etc. etc. It felt hopeless.
She asked me for help and THAT felt hopeless because I don't know the first thing about the legal system. In addition, I don't have the Spanish vocabulary to deal with "legal guardianship"and "foster care."
But our friend Mitali and I prayed and researched and asked for help. And help came.
First of all, an extremely generous person, who I don't know well, has offered to not only connect Jorge (in prison) with a good criminal lawyer, but to pay for it! I couldn't believe it. I actually thought I had dreamed it and had to ask her again to make sure it was real. She's really going to pay for a criminal lawyer for Jorge.
I talked to this lawyer, and she has hope. I don't understand any of the terminology or details, but she thinks that if we bring up all the trauma he had as a child, his sentence can be lessened. There is more to it than that, obviously, but I'm not going to go into it on a blog!
Then we tried to figure out the status of Abuela's granddaughter. She had a social worker for the case (the granddaughter was put into her custody by child protective services) but the social worker left the agency and they didn't assign her a new one. She had some paperwork from the social worker but it didn't have the official seal so it didn't officially show guardianship. We just didn't know what to do.
Things turned out MUCH better than any of us thought.
First of all, it turns out that grandparents can get official copies of birth certificates! So I'm sending in that paperwork for her tomorrow.
Secondly, and most important, we found out that she IS the legal guardian of her granddaughter! But no one told her so. Her child protective services case was closed in 2016 and her dad lost all parental rights. (Her mom died in late 2016). That automatically made Abuela her legal guardian. But somehow the notification got lost.
The social worker I spoke to was very impatient and condescending but thawed a little when I told her that Abuela didn't read or write and thus needed my help. She said, "Oh, that's hard."
We're going to go to court on Monday to get the paperwork with the official seal that is needed. Then Abuela will be able to prove that she is the legal guardian, without a doubt.
Thank you to everyone who prayed, who was pulling for her, and who donated money toward her court fees. Thank you, THANK YOU to the person who wants to stay anonymous who is paying for the lawyer. Abuela can't quite believe it. There were a lot of happy tears today.
This isn't a great picture of me, but I'm putting it up anyway,because if you want to know what a warrior looks like, look at Abuela. Don't stand between a grandmother and her grandkids. She may not be able to read or write, but she is extremely wise, and she is a fighter.
The reason it's been so hard to write is because it has been so incredibly discouraging. Abuela has been trying to get custody of her granddaughter and it has been a mess. The social worker didn't give her the right paperwork, then the social worker quit, she's been calling and no one spoke Spanish, etc. etc. It felt hopeless.
She asked me for help and THAT felt hopeless because I don't know the first thing about the legal system. In addition, I don't have the Spanish vocabulary to deal with "legal guardianship"and "foster care."
But our friend Mitali and I prayed and researched and asked for help. And help came.
First of all, an extremely generous person, who I don't know well, has offered to not only connect Jorge (in prison) with a good criminal lawyer, but to pay for it! I couldn't believe it. I actually thought I had dreamed it and had to ask her again to make sure it was real. She's really going to pay for a criminal lawyer for Jorge.
I talked to this lawyer, and she has hope. I don't understand any of the terminology or details, but she thinks that if we bring up all the trauma he had as a child, his sentence can be lessened. There is more to it than that, obviously, but I'm not going to go into it on a blog!
Then we tried to figure out the status of Abuela's granddaughter. She had a social worker for the case (the granddaughter was put into her custody by child protective services) but the social worker left the agency and they didn't assign her a new one. She had some paperwork from the social worker but it didn't have the official seal so it didn't officially show guardianship. We just didn't know what to do.
Things turned out MUCH better than any of us thought.
First of all, it turns out that grandparents can get official copies of birth certificates! So I'm sending in that paperwork for her tomorrow.
Secondly, and most important, we found out that she IS the legal guardian of her granddaughter! But no one told her so. Her child protective services case was closed in 2016 and her dad lost all parental rights. (Her mom died in late 2016). That automatically made Abuela her legal guardian. But somehow the notification got lost.
The social worker I spoke to was very impatient and condescending but thawed a little when I told her that Abuela didn't read or write and thus needed my help. She said, "Oh, that's hard."
We're going to go to court on Monday to get the paperwork with the official seal that is needed. Then Abuela will be able to prove that she is the legal guardian, without a doubt.
Thank you to everyone who prayed, who was pulling for her, and who donated money toward her court fees. Thank you, THANK YOU to the person who wants to stay anonymous who is paying for the lawyer. Abuela can't quite believe it. There were a lot of happy tears today.
This isn't a great picture of me, but I'm putting it up anyway,because if you want to know what a warrior looks like, look at Abuela. Don't stand between a grandmother and her grandkids. She may not be able to read or write, but she is extremely wise, and she is a fighter.
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