When Child Welfare IS Involved
Guardianship is one of the options available to the Department of Social Services (DSS) when they decide that the child will not be able to go home to their parents. It does not require termination of the child’s parents’ rights (TPR), which is a legal process that means that the birth parents no longer have the right to make decisions for their child. This type of guardianship is filed in Juvenile Court. The child has to be in the custody of DSS (in foster care). As the guardian, you have legal and physical control and the rights and responsibilities to make decisions about the child. At the same time, the child’s parents often retain some visitation or other rights. Unlike guardianship in civil court, the child’s parents are not required to be dead.
