How To Help Relatives In Foster Care

This is all happening in Michigan. I have 2 young relatives in foster care. Their parents are neglectful and have struggled with drug addiction. One parent is in prison now. The other is still trying to get the kids back. It’s been over 2 years (for the current case. This is not the first time being removed from the home for the older child.) Previous case workers were against reunification. The latest one seems determined to give the kids back regardless of any danger their non-imprisoned parent presents. Concerns from the foster parents, teachers, therapists, anyone involved seem to be swept under the rug and in some cases even directly lied about by the case worker. Like “teacher says everything is going great at school” when in reality teacher is asking what’s going on because the child is showing concerning change in behavior as parenting time has increased. The lawyer for the children seems overworked and befuddled and despite expressing concern in private with the foster parents, doesn’t actually speak up in court on behalf of the children. It is heartbreaking to watch the impacts this case is having on my family. The children, the foster parents, other relatives who care about these 2 young children.

I want to help protect these kids but I am not sure if anything can be done. Can I hire a lawyer for the children that can provide them more dedicated representation? I’ve heard that their current lawyer has hundreds of cases and it feels unfair that the bio parents can hire whomever they want but the children are stuck with the state-provided representation that seems overworked unable to provide them the attention they need. What about the foster parents? Can they have representation? I know their input is supposed to matter but the case worker is dismissive of their concerns and they don’t feel they can be heard. They couldn’t afford it, but could I pay for a lawyer for them? Can they request a different case worker somehow since this one seems biased? The case worker’s supervisor hasn’t been helpful. They do accompany the case worker on all visits now after the case worker lied about visiting once, but otherwise seem to back them up.

I’m just worried about these kids and I feel like I can’t sit back and “let the system work” anymore when it seems like the system does not have their best interests at heart. I want to do anything I can to help at this point.