Hi Wendy
You really have got your hands full. First off be honest with your neice about her parents, she is young enough to accept what has happened without judgement and as she gets older she will be more accepting of this (answer each of her questions over time as she asks them, openly and directly). If you ignore her background then wait until she is much older to tell her then she will probably react very badly to this information and want to know why she did not know about it before. You sound like a very genuine person who wants very much to give your sisters child some stability and a chance at a better way of life, your best bet is to approach the citizens advice service who will be able to point you in the right direction, their advice is impartial and free so you have nothing to lose. Good luck

I forgot to mention that I am in California, and I think that citizens advice is UK, but I am still looking at other legal sites.
thanks for the advice!
Wendy

I would go talk to an attorney. DO NOT go to CPS!!! You DO NOT want mixed up with them. My niece had her children taken from her and I tried to get custody of them but since they were babies they let the foster parent's adopt them. We found out that the case worker gets a kick back from it. It is also proven that when a child goes into CPS as a baby or toddler that it is much much harder for the parent's to get them out. So if I were you I wouldn't go that route.

As for "Daddy", he don't have a prayer of getting the little girl back! So don't even worry about that one.

I know that you have had her since she was 1 but, with all of those people in the house do you really have room for her? I am only asking because IF you file for custody CPS may come in and do a home study just to make sure that you have room for her and that your house is with in the safety guidelines.

I really don't think that you will have any problem what so ever of getting custody of her though. If your sister is strung out on drugs and her daddy is in prison it sounds like it is in the bag. You just need to get an attorney to draw you up some papers and go to court. The only thing that your sister has going for her is that when she left the baby, she left her with people that she knew would take care of her. That is the ONLY thing that she has going for her but, I don't think that is going to be enough for her to be able to keep her. Also, if she said that she will sign her rights away, take her with you to the attorney's office if you know where she is. That baby needs stability in her little life and she will never find it with your sister because of the drugs and the sort of life that she is into.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you get legal custody of your niece.

I agree with Sondra's statement of not getting CPS involved - that could cause you more problems. I am not sure if the option is available in California, but you might try getting legal guardianship, rather than full legal custody. With an attorney and agreement from the birth mother, you should be able to do that with no problem and no requirements for CPS to get involved at all. That gives you the right to make all legal decisions regarding the child, school, health care, etc. I am not sure of all of the implications, should the baby's mother change her mind sometime in the future, but it is a legal step in the right direction.
Best of luck to you - you do have a lot to cope with.