The Crazy Circle

So, this week I've had a taste of what it's like to be caught in "the system's crazy circle". We filed the paperwork on Friday for Guardianship of Chastity and since Monday was a holiday we didn't hear from the court until Tuesday that there were still some things that they required from us in form of documentation in order to complete the paperwork for the judge's approval/signature. One of the items needed is a certified copy of the child's birth certificate.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem, except that she doesn't have one. She doesn't have one and Mom doesn't have an approved form of legal Identification--which is required by the state of Florida to order a birth certificate. (We've known this was an ongoing crazy circle--as the school has allowed her to stay without one but has been pursuing it with mom for months!) So, I called the state of Florida and talked to a lady there who was very understanding of our situation and said that if I just made a copy of the Guardianship papers we'd filed with the court (showing mom's signature that had been notarized) that they would be able to process it (Wow! That was so simple!). So, I went to the courthouse and picked up the paperwork and took it to the post office and overnighted it so that it would get there today. Today I called them to be sure that it had arrived and talked to a lady who told me that they'd received it but that they would not be able to process it because it wasn't a form of identitification that they accepted. I, again, explained the situation and she began to explain to me each piece of paper that I'd sent to her (like I didn't know what I'd sent!)--I told her that I understood what I'd sent and that yesterday they'd told me that that was satisfactory. She got snippy with me and told me I needed to talk to a supervisor. Hello supervisor. I again explained the situation and she told me that I'd have to have mom's signature (WITH A NOTARY!) or have the judge file a motion against the state of Florida ordering that her birth certificate be released (which could take weeks!). She also mentioned that perhaps I might want to become Mom's guardian so that I could sign paperwork for her! Um, no, I told her, I don't want to be her guardian too...I only want to be the child's guardian...and by the way, I have had her since Friday and I REALLY want to get this moving! I asked her if dropped everything (at 2:00!) and had it signed today (no small task!)--could I fax it to her and overnight the form so that she could get it in the mail today overnighted back to me? She said that normally she would not be able to do that, but that under the circumstances she would and gave me the fax number. I got a hold of my sister who is a notary, went to the attorney's office and picked up paperwork, called Chastity's mom and asked if we could come over...and by 3:30 we were at her house having her sign the papers (whew!). I faxed them to the number that she gave me at 3:50 and at 4:00 called her to confirm that they'd recieved the fax. I was pretty proud of myself that I'd managed to get all of that accomplished in under two hours!
They put me on hold for a LONG time then the snippy lady from earlier came back and said, "Mrs Hicks, we received the fax and as soon as we receive the original we will process your request." AHHH!! "Could I speak with your supervisor, please?", I calmly asked. Supervisor comes on, I say, "Hi, could you tell me why you're not able to send it overnight today when two hours earlier you said you would?" "Sure," she says, "Our overnight mail has already left for the day. I'll send it overnight tomorrow for you and you'll have it by Friday." I want to cry. I want to yell. I'm SO frustrated with this craziness. I just say, "Ok, I guess it would have been helpful to know two hours ago--before I tried to move heaven and earth to get this accomplished today so that we can get this matter settled by the end of the week--that there was no way that it was going to happen today." She says, " I will call you tomorrow as soon as I send it to you and give you the tracking number, I really don't see how a day will make a difference."

Yeah, what difference will it make to not get it until Friday? Well let's see....

Not getting it until Friday afternoon means that I can't take it back to the courthouse until Friday afternoon, which means that the judge won't be able to receive the paperwork until Friday afternoon or Monday morning which means that this WHOLE THING is prolonged yet another week...

No, one day really doesn't make a difference...especially since it's really not one day...it's two days! AND you've told me (TWICE now) things (paperwork!) would work when they DON'T. State of Florida, I'm not very happy with you today, you're drivng me crazy--and it's not a long drive at all!