My 32 yr old daughter lost custody of her daughters in MA (Bristol County ) Probate Court to their dad in @ 3 yrs ago. She was living in a project at the time, was not the best house keeper and because the oldest had head lice a few times. They are biracial with very thick lo0ng hair so had a hard time getting rid of it. Also the papers frrom court said because she allowed them to sleep with her in bed. No boy friend just her asnd the girls would sleep together 80% of the time.
It came as a shock because the whole time it was going on it looked like all was going in her favor. Since they have been with dad he had a 51a filed and DSS involved because at dads they got lice and he also had hard time getting rid of it. The youngest is failing in school. The teacher has been asking since Sept for a notew from Dr so they can put the child in Special Needs, he never gave it to them,keeps saying next week. They cry every visit and want to be home. He does not check homework or get involved in any school activities. They miss out on Spirit Day days they are suppose to wear certain colorsa to school etc... Does not go to any plays, graduations etc..
Dad has just started dating a female and she is living in the house. They were only dating 2 weeks when she moved in. She is in her 30s and does not have custody of her kids and has been living there over a month and she has not seen her kids at all during that time. They agreed that would be with someone 6 months before they met the girls. This is the 2nd girl who has moved in with him. Like this one he only knew the first one 2 weeks
What are her chances of getting them back? They live about 1 !/2 hours a way. She sees them every other weekenhd, school vacations, and summer vacation. She has a 5 yr old son who liveswith her. (he has a different dad) but that man has no contact with the child. The girls want to be with their mom and brother.
She now lives in a new apartment in a very good area does great at house keeping and needs to get them back. Th3eir dad does not do anything with them. He is always with his friends, they are there all hours of the night ,girls say music is loud, the girls eat alone and the dads and his girl eat in a different room. Even before he had a girl he never ate with them.
SHE CAN NOT AFFORD A LAWYER SO WHAT CAN SHE DO TO REGAIN CUSTODY?? Sorry so long but these are my grand daughters and I want to see them back where they belong with THEIR MOM!

There has to be a lot more happening, all types of kids gets head lice, rich kids, poor kids and so on. Next race is not a issue to dealing with head lice, medication and proper treatment, and doing things to stop them from coming back are.

But there had to be more to her losing the kids. Next the school does not need a parent to send a note to put them in special needs classes. The school evaluates the child often, and classify the child or moves them to special classes as they want. A parent may sit down and help with a education plan, but the school will do what they want in placement.

As for as "eating" with the kids, while I may disagree, in some cultures, dads do not eat with their kids, kids would eat at a separate table.

She needs an attorney, and needs to check out legal aid perhaps. Perhaps you can help pay for one with her. And why do they "belong" with their mom, they belong at a place that is best for them, ( even if that is not with either parent) So she will need to prove in court that first he is not a fit parent, and why the kids are going to be better with her.

Just opinion, there will need to be documentation of any evidence.

Well maybe it is not Special Needs Class. The youngest has Neurpfibromatusis (NF) and when we spoke with the teacher she said " I have asked dad several times to get documentation from the dr that she has NF so we can get her the help she needs". I took that to mean Special Needs Class"
I by no means meant the head lice was a racial thing I was just saying it was hard to get rid of it because they both have thick, curly,kinky hair. Dad did have DSS called on him by the School Dept because they kept getting it.
I know dads do not always eat with the kids.. BUT when he is the only parent he SHOULD be spending time with them. He is a STAY AT HOME DAD. He does not attend any school functions, concerts,plays,graduation, Parents Day. He does not ever look over their papers or go overtheir homework them. He does not spend ANY time with them. All his time is spent with his friends in another part of the house that has been turned into a studio with his friends working on music. The music is loud all hours of the nights they say with lots of people at the house.
Also this is the second female he has had moved in after only knowing a short while (2 weeks) . First girl was therer 3 months. This one also does not work, does not have custody of her kids and is not allowed visits with them .I am not saying she would ever do anything harmful to the kids I know he would not let that happen.
I do not know how far she can get with UNFIT but I do know they are Emotionally neglected for sure,and that they want to be home with their brother and mom. I read the court reports (26 pages) and it was lack of house keeping, head lice problem ( dad had same problem ) and the vgirls not sleeping in their beds. There was NO drugs No drinking at all . It came as a shock that he won.
Even with us combining our $$ still can not get a lawyer and last time she did more harm than good. She has teachers, Sunday school teachers, youth ministers and others who are willing to write letters and support her in court. I just want to know if anyone knows how often moms get their kids back in Probate.

At the time she lost primary custody did DSS give any conditions she needed to comply with to regain custody?

She can certainly apply for a modification. I think she has enough justification to make the application. However, we can't predict what a judge will do.

No it was in Probate court. DSS was involved because she went there her self for help. Her worker was shocked they placed the girls with the dad.
He had a paid lawyer and she had a Free lawyer, don't know if that had anything to do with it.
She is going to go in and hoping their dad will agree to see how it goes for a year with them doing school with her. It is just sad that he outs NO EFFORT into their school work.
I know they have someone come and speak with the kids before it goes before the judge. I know they will say tthey want to live with mom. I just hope when they say how dad never spends time with them and ALWAYS has people in his house and loud rap music they do not get punished. I wish there was a way they could just drop by and see how it is there at night. Loud music,weed music with foul language,but bothers me that NO TIME is spent with them.

If he is going to use an attorney she can't afford not to. She should shop around, it could be that he may have to pay her costs.

I am not sure if he will get a lawyer. He only got one because the judge from probate told him charges may be pressed against him for forging my daughter name on a document. His family knows a Notaty public so he had her stamp a lettter my daughter never wrote.
We are hoping he agrees to see how they do for a year or 6 months. I am sure in that time there will be a huge difference in their school work and them getting the proper medical care. Youngest has NF and has not seen her dr in over a yr, school nurse told him to seek med help for youngest headaches, which is part of NF. Both failed vision tests and he never followed up. He has FREE medical so that is not the problem. Plus they do not have a pedi dr. They go to a walk in clinic or ER when they are sick
Thanks for the responses they have been helpful.