PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A grandmother is in year two of a fight to care for her granddaughter, who was placed in foster care as a baby. It's a struggle grandparents can face to keep children within their family.
At a Tampa Bay area park, Karen Kwiatkowski wished she was able to kiss her granddaughter. Instead, in the first moments after she met the ABC Action News I-Team, she kissed her cross necklace.
“I pray to bring my granddaughter home more than anything," she told the I-Team.
Kwiatkowski's son's girlfriend gave up her parental rights. The grandmother has been fighting for nearly three years to adopt her granddaughter.
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“Back in April of 2021, I was at work. Got a phone call," Kwiatkowski recalled. “Told me to get to Florida as soon as possible before my granddaughter goes into foster care. I picked up and left.”
Kwiatkowski drove to Florida from Georgia. Still, her newborn granddaughter went into foster care, where she has remained.
“It’s been chaos. It’s been torture. I mean, I’ve been going through parenting classes, drug testing, IQ tests, getting divorced, trips back and forth from Georgia. I moved to Florida again for seven months, tried to establish residency. But they said it wasn’t good enough because who I was staying with was not my life partner. It was a friend, like a brother to me. And they kept saying, well, he can kick you out at any time. It’s not a stable environment," Kwiatkowski said.
Kwiatkowski bought a home in Georgia, with a room waiting for her granddaughter.
"This way, there will be no objections," Kwiatkowski said. "This is my house now.”
But Kwiatkowski told the I-Team she is still facing barriers to bringing her granddaughter home.
“Now I’ve moved past the background check; now it was where I live. That I was living in Georgia," Kwiatkowski said. “What does it make a difference where I live? As long as I’m a stable person to bring my granddaughter up?”
Kwiatkowski's granddaughter knows she's grandma through regular visits.
“Family’s a gift. And we got to cherish it," Kwiatkowski said.
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On top of hiring an attorney, Kwiatkowski said she has contacted everyone she can think of, from state and local representatives to members of Congress.
“I can see if they’ve got a really good reason. Like if I beat a child or sexually abused a child, or kidnapped somebody. I’m a good mom, and I’m a good grandma," Kwiatkowski said.
The I-Team contacted the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to ask what the agency's process is for reaching out to family members before placing a child into foster care, what criminal record would prevent someone from adopting a child, and about the case.
Records are not made public. DCF said because of that, the agency is not able to respond to case-specific questions. DCF said it tries to keep families together whenever it is possible and safe, according to state law.
National Coalition for Child Protection Reform Executive Director Richard Wexler said his organization has been following Florida child welfare for more than 20 years.
“If children genuinely cannot stay with their own parents, research is overwhelming — the best option is extended family," Wexler said. "That is vastly better than strangers."
Wexler said he has seen cases like this in Florida and other parts of the country.
“The typical leadership, not just in Florida, but across the country, has all of these biases against extended families and biases of class and biases of race. And that’s why cases like this can arise," Wexler said.
“I know there’s probably a lot of other families that, for some reason, gave up, it got too hard. I am never going to give up," Kwiatkowski said. “I can’t. She’s my granddaughter, she’s my family.”
The case is still moving forward in court.
Full Statement from DCF:
“Records related to child welfare and adoptions are confidential per 39.202 and 63.162(2), Florida Statutes, so we are unable to respond to your specific case questions.
Florida Statue outlines the Department’s responsibility around placement decisions. As a Department, our trained professionals evaluate each case and try to keep families together whenever it is possible and safe. In situations where the child cannot remain safely in the home, the Department is responsible for ensuring placements and service provision are in the best interest of the child.
Further, Florida law clearly lays out how the Department and the Court must handle removals and placements in Section 39.401(3), F.S.
Placement prioritization as outlined in s. 39.4021, F.S. is required to be followed any time there is a change to a child’s physical or legal placement after the child has been sheltered but before the child has achieved permanency except as otherwise provided in Chapter 39, F.S. This includes several out of home placement options such as nonoffending parent, relative caregiver, and nonrelative caregiver.
How the Department handles felonies and background checks is outlined in Chapter 39.0138, F.S.”
This story started with a tip. If you have something you'd like the I-Team to investigate, please email Kylie at kylie.mcgivern@wfts.com.
