Web Posted: 10/10/2006 12:25 AM CDT

Sixteen members of the Moreno family sat at the back of the courtroom after the placement hearing ended. There were aunts, uncles, cousins, a grandmother, a great-grandmother. Their faces were solemn, their moods anxious.

After 57th District Judge Joe Brown Jr. dismissed the hearing and requested another be scheduled, they had questions. They asked their lawyer, Dennis Moreno, what the next step would be in getting custody of a little girl.

Their fight is for Nemoway Infinity Ramirez, a 5-year-old girl who was taken from her parents after their parental rights were terminated by a Bexar County Children's Court judge, citing drug abuse and neglect.

Nemoway's second cousin Sandra Moreno has staked a claim to the girl, saying she should be with family. But the foster parents whom Nemoway has stayed with for the past six months say the girl belongs with them, claiming their home environment is healthier and their bond strong.

Two families fighting over custody of a single child highlights something rarely seen in the world of Texas child welfare, where thousands of children sit waiting for families to adopt them each year. Experts say there are never enough adoptive parents willing to open their homes to children removed from their homes for abuse and neglect.

There's the added component that further complicates the case: Even though Moreno has had little contact with the girl, she and her Hispanic family are worried that the non-Hispanic foster parents are stripping the girl of her cultural identity.

The foster parents, John and Isabelle Timms, have already given Nemoway a new name - theirs.

'Shared history'

Child Protective Services had cleared Sandra Moreno - no relation to Dennis Moreno - and common-law-husband John Arguijo to get the girl in May, but the girl's court-appointed attorney, Elisabeth Fisher, has fought to keep the girl with the Timmses.

In August, Fisher persuaded the court to halt the process of uniting Nemoway and the Morenos.

"She could have been in the home last April. She could have been in the home without any problems," Dennis Moreno said. "Why are we using fosters when we have family?"

The Oct. 3 hearing in Brown's court was to decide whether to dissolve the injunction and begin Nemoway's transition from the foster family to the Morenos.

But Brown said his understanding of the law was that when parents' rights are terminated, the entire family loses their rights, too.

He also noted a provision in the Texas Family Code that calls for the child to have substantial contact with the prospective parents, which has not happened.

Sandra Moreno took the stand and conceded that her contact with Nemoway over the child's life was only at Christmas gatherings and a wedding.

Another hearing will be scheduled - possibly this week - after a CPS lawyer files pleadings to place Nemoway with the family.

Fisher has argued that the Timmses, who are licensed as foster-adopt parents through the state and took Nemoway into their home with the hope of adopting her, are a better placement for Nemoway. But state law says that CPS must place the child with family before others.

Family members weren't the only ones in the courtroom to show their support for Sandra Moreno.

Last week, at the request of Moreno family members, state Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, and a representative from the office state Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, both have been present at hearings and made calls to Child Protective Services about the case.

"Aside from the physical contact, family is not a tangible thing," Castro said. "It's a shared history and knowledge of relatives who will give a sense of where she came from and who she is."

'Structure and harmony'

The issue of cross-racial adoptions reached a fever pitch in San Antonio in 1992, when the Department of Human Services denied Anglo parents the chance to adopt a Mexican American toddler.

The following year, Gov. Ann Richards signed into law a bill that stopped the state from using race or ethnicity to deny or delay placing a child for adoption or into a foster home.

Now, Department of Family and Protective Services officials say race and ethnicity are not factors in custody decisions, though that's not at issue before Judge Brown.

In the past, an association of black social workers opposed the idea, saying black children risk losing their identity and culture if they don't grow up in black families.

Recently, however, information has been disseminated that children do better in stable environments, regardless of the difference in ethnicity or race, than they do being shuffled from foster home to foster home.

Isabelle Timms declined an interview, but in an Aug. 16 letter to Associate Judge Richard Garcia, she and her husband wrote of their love for the child and their desire to keep her in their lives.

After she was removed from her parents' home, Nemoway was sent to live with family members from her father's side, but that failed, too.

In their letter, the Timmses speak of the day when a CPS caseworker brought Nemoway to them. They claim Nemoway was nonverbal and nonmobile.

The couple wrote that the girl "arrived dirty, skinny, with two garbage bags full of hand-down clothes."

The couple noted a remarkable improvement after the first 72 hours and wrote about how Nemoway was becoming a part of their family, which includes two young daughters.

The couple said Nemoway questioned her name, so they gave her a new one: Bella Timms. The couple noted that their daughter's names are Jonabelle and Josebelle, all after their mother Isabelle.

The letter included a photo of a smiling Nemoway playing at an underground pool and a description of the little girl in her new life. The couple wrote that Nemoway "goes to an excellent school, learned how to swim, and loves the beach."

The Timmses said that the child "bonded very strongly with her new family, where she is a visible member, loves her animals, has her own room, her clothes, her toys and the most important - structure and harmony."

Cultural heritage

Still, Rosalinda Botello, Nemoway's 88-year-old great-grandmother, who has 143 grandchildren spanning five generations, said her family and Nemoway deserve to be with each other.

"We can take care of her," she said in Brown's courtroom. "We need to keep our family together."

Mary Moreno, Sandra Moreno's mother and Nemoway's aunt, said Sandra has a "tremendous support system" in the family. She also spoke of a rich family history, of being one of the first immigrant families to come to San Antonio from Mexico.

Mary Moreno, a community family activist, said the family wanted to make sure the girl remained in touch with her cultural heritage.

"And it's not only Nemoway," she said, adding she was concerned about the Timmses being granted custody. "She's going to grow up and have children and grandchildren, and for them not to know their history."

Sandra Moreno echoed the same concern.

"Our family is very involved with our Mexican heritage. I used to be a folklorico. We have fiesta parties all the time. We always have piñatas at birthday parties, and we make tamales during Christmas. This is who she is. These are celebrations of who she is. I would hate for her to miss out on these things."

nmartinez@express-news.net

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA101006.01A.FOSTERCHILD.357369b.html