Couple's adoption petition denied

SANDPOINT —Tuesday Judge Debra Heise denied Anna and Lacey Blackford’s petition to adopt their 2-year-old foster son.

The couple had no legal standing in Idaho law.

“I am just so mad that there isn’t a law that a judge can rule on,” Anna Blackford said via Facebook chat.

“I am sad that I have to make sure a law or a few laws are made and that I won’t get to use it for my own case,” she wrote.

The state is one of 34 without a Foster Parents Bill of Rights.

An Adoption Selection Committee appointed by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare selected a different couple as his potential adoptive parents in October.

The Blackfords became Joey’s foster parents when he was 8 days old. He was addicted to cocaine when he was born and tested positive for hydrocodone and marijuana.

The toddler’s biological mother has had six children, none of whom live with her. Three children are living with relatives and a four child was adopted. Joey has a younger brother living in Washington, however Blackford is unsure if his mother’s rights have been terminated.

Unfortunately,  Judge Heise had to rule against our petition for adoption. Foster parents in Idaho have no rights to “their” children. They have no rights to adopt, no rights to question what is in their best interest and no rights to fight for what is right,” Blackford wrote on the Save Joey Facebook site.

“ I wish that it was about whether the judge had compassion …”