Court rules against Wappello County grandparent’s bid for custody of grandkids

The Iowa Court of Appeals has dismissed the Wapello County lawsuit of grandparents who were seeking custody of their grandchildren. Greg and Sharon Cain asked the state to give them custody of their grandchildren — Brooke and Jazzmin — after their son gave up his parental rights in 2001. The two kids had been declared children in need of assistance a year earlier. Their mother had mental problems. their father had a substance abuse problem and there’d been domestic violence in the home. State officials decided not to let the kids live with their grandparents. The kids were adopted by another family in 2002. The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled the grandparents’ appeal is “moot” because the kids have now been adopted. In the court’s opinion, the judges said the grandparents hadn’t acted quickly enough to offer their home to the kids and the Cains never offered to adopt the children either.