[QUOTE=hopeful4;4304160]I agree, but how do you go about making sure he can only see them in that environment?
You fight hard to protect your kids through legal means. And you might not have them 100% of the time which is heart wrenching and scary I know. But when they ARE w you you will now you have a peaceful home and not one ruled by the addict.
I have spoken to one of the best attorneys around here, he basically told me that he will get custody on every other Wed and every other weekend and that definitely his behavior is not bad enough to warrant a judge giving him supervised visitation unless he screws up with the kids with him.
Wed and every other weekend isn't so bad. And you will find as I have that even w limited time, he will find reasons to not exercise it. He may play the part of great dad for a few weeks but the kids will be in the way of his desire for free time and he will soon be back to making excuses to not have them. And once he does that even once you've got your track record of his not exercising time and you DOCUMENT it to the heavens.
Your kids would probably beg you I'd bet if they had a choice to have 6 days a week of peace. That's what him having wed nights amounts to. 6 days of peace. Currently they and you have 0.
My sister is a Sgt. w/Highway Patrol in this area, she confirmed that once he is off probation that the only way the police are going to get involved is if I can actively PROVE his is drinking AND driving them while in his care. Just because he drinks while in his custody will not mean a thing and even if it does, the police will not intervene.
It WILL mean something if you write it into the parenting plan that he is NOT to drink and if you even suspect he is that you have the right to come get the kids. That's in mine. XAH agreed to it bc to not agree makes him look even guiltier of
being a drunk.
There's plenty of ways you can protect your kids. It's the unknown that scared me most of all. Get a good lawyer and fight and you will be better for it. And your kids will be safer than they are now.