If Your Child Can't Come Home Yet
Guardianship vs. Adoption
If a Dependency Judge determines that a child cannot return to their parent, the caregiver has significant input on what happens next. The two options are legal guardianship and adoption. This page is a guide to help caregivers understand the difference, and why guardianship may be worth considering before making a permanent decision.
WHAT BOTH HAVE IN COMMON
Under both legal guardianship and adoption, the parent no longer has authority to make important decisions about the child's life. Once the case is closed, social workers will not check in with you.
Both legal guardians and adoptive parents have authority to:
Make medical decisions
Make educational decisions
Decide where the child lives
Travel with the child
Receive financial assistance
THE KEY DIFFERENCE
Adoption permanently terminates all of the parent's rights. Legal guardianship preserves the possibility of change. If years from now the parent has turned their life around and can prove they are a safe parent, a court could consider returning the child to them under guardianship. After adoption, that is never possible.
The only authority legal guardians have that adoptive parents do not is the ability to change the permanent plan later.
WOULD THE PARENT GET VISITS?
Under legal guardianship, parents do not have an automatic right to frequent visitation. Before closing the case, the Dependency Court may order reasonable visitation as directed by the guardian and in the child's best interest, unless visits would be harmful to the child.
If the guardian and the parent do not get along, the court may set a specific order, such as one visit per month for four hours.
CAN THE PARENT TAKE THE CHILD BACK?
Not without a court order. For the court to return a child to their parent under guardianship, the parent must prove two things:
That circumstances have changed significantly - with real evidence, since the court has the full history of the case.
That returning to the parent would be in the child's best interest.
If disrupting the child's relationship with the guardian would cause too much harm, the court cannot order the return.
DO LEGAL GUARDIANS HAVE TO REPORT TO ANYONE?
No. Legal guardians have sole authority and do not need to check in with the court or the parent.
HOW TO CHOOSE GUARDIANSHIP
Tell the social worker. Show them that you are willing and able to provide the child with a stable, permanent environment, and that removing the child from your care would be harmful to their emotional wellbeing.
The law is structured around adoption as the default, so social workers will typically pursue that first. However, research shows that permanently severing ties with biological parents can be very harmful to children. It's worth exploring different perspectives before deciding.
If you choose guardianship now, you can still choose adoption later. Once you adopt, there is no going back.