Eventually.
You can probably guess by the title that well... we didn't get guardianship. Guess what? That's ok. Its not the right time right now. I will explain why Kendra cannot move to West Virginia yet.
We started the hearing with the assistant attorney general for OPG (Office of Public Guardian) arguing why Kendra should not come here. I had the chance to respond. As mad as I was at what the attorney had said, I refrained from personally attacking him. You all know I have no filter right? I say it how it is. Maybe that is not one of my best characteristics. I don't know.
Then the attorney who speaks on behalf of Kendra spoke and said there needs to be a plan on 1,2,3 of what needs to be accomplished before Kendra comes to West Virginia. The state presented concerns about my toddlers ages 6 and 3 and I responded that Kendra has NEVER been aggressive towards her siblings. She actually gets along very well with them most likely because she relates to them better due to her mentality. She loves her little brother and sister and has been sending them letters and cute little gifts.
Another thing was that I lack the training I would need. Guess what? I now work in a residential group home and I have the training now and I know quite well how to de-escalate a situation. Five of the people on the court hearing said it themselves that Kendra does better when she is NOT in a group home setting; and when she had her home visit with me in July for the month, she had no issues while here. She went back after her home visit and her whole demeanor changed and all around she was just so much happier. I addressed the courts and said that clearly that is evidence that she needs to be with her family where she feels loved and accepted. Right now, Kendra has so many feelings of rejection. One thing was that maybe I should move to Utah. UHH NO! I said I was not happy in Utah and clearly Kendra is not and not only that, some people cannot afford to just up and move 2800 miles. We also brought of the fact that Kendra is isolated from what family is in Utah being she lives 6 hours away from anyone. Of course, the assistant attorney general had more to say. One thing was "maybe Jennifer Jackson is a good mother." What the? I AM a good mother. I advocate for my kids! I was fuming, but I got a text from my dad "keep your cool" as he was on the call too. Maybe he saw my face go flush. When I am pissed, I get blush in the face and usually start crying. I admit, I was holding tears.
They even let Kendra address the courts. The judge let her speak and say everything she wanted. She admitted she is not perfect but working on it. So here is why she cannot come here...yet. Back in May, she was in another group home and quite frankly, the staff there could have done a lot better. There was one girl that kept verbally attacking Kendra. It turned physical. Kendra ended up getting charged with assault and actually spent time in jail. She has these charges still pending. The attorney representing her has requested a competency evaluation. So this is still a pending open criminal case. The judge cannot legally allow a defendant to leave the state when there is a pending case. We had a brief recess while the judge went and thought about it. He came back and said it is very obvious that Kendra is loved by her family and greatly desires to be with her family. But the thing is, she cannot leave until this is taken care of. There are a few things that can happen with this... 1. the charges are dropped (best thing that could happen). 2. she is found not competent and will go to the state hospital until she is. 3. she is found competent and pleads guilty and then will be on probation. If that happens, we have to see if her probation can be transferred to WV and in most cases no. The next hearing for the criminal case is October 13.
So, the judge told me he can see how much better Kendra would do in the family setting given the testimony of all today. That being said, he cannot allow her to leave the state of Utah right now with pending criminal charges. Another thing that will help Kendra is do not have any more incidents. The judge says the timing of my petition is not the best time because right now his hands are tied and if he allowed her to leave, he would be disbarred. So now, we wait for the criminal case to be over (6 months-3 yrs worse case scenario) and I refile for guardianship. Luckily it will go before him again.
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