We need a three-strikes law for parents

Today the judge ordered two kids to go back to their mom, after the third removal episode. Normally I love putting families back together, but these kids have had their childhood ripped away by the mom's alcoholism already, and I strongly doubt she's going to stay sober this time. At this point, they have spent almost as much time out of her care as in it, and they are almost adolescents. They know she is liable to go back on the booze as soon as her case closes, because that's what she always does. I really wanted to put them with the mom's friend, a nurse who lives close enough to mom that the kids could visit every day, but the judge decided that mom needs yet another chance...The kids were crying when they heard the ruling.

The only thing I could do was give the kids my cell number and tell them to call me any time, and work out a plan for them to call 911 if mom gets drunk again.

After the third time the state has to take the kids away, the parents should just lose parental rights. It is ridiculous to have to tell frightened, crying children that they have to go back to the mother who repeatedly drives drunk with them in the car (once having an accident that seriously injured one of them) and who has taught them to "take care of themselves" when she is passed out on the floor.