Controversial Foster-Parent Case Settled : Law: A judge agrees with a black mother’s decision to let her children live with a suburban white couple. Officials wanted an inner-city black family.

A judge on Thursday granted a black woman’s wish that her two young girls live with an affluent, suburban white couple, ending social workers’ plans to place the children with black foster parents in the inner city.

Milwaukee County Children’s Court Judge Ronald S. Goldberger ordered that the woman’s 5-month-old daughter remain in the care of foster parents Beverly and David Cox of Delafield, a suburb about 30 miles west of Milwaukee.

The judge also ordered that the woman’s 16-month-old daughter be moved there.

The Milwaukee County Department of Social Services wanted to put the girls in black foster homes in the inner city to keep them in the same social and economic environment as their mother.

The judge made the ruling after social worker Bonnie Finkler told the court her agency had changed its position and agreed to drop plans to take the 5-month-old child from the Coxes and place her with a black family.

“This case is unique because of the close friendship that has developed between the Coxes and the natural family,” Finkler said. “We are hopeful that this relationship will prove to be an asset in reuniting mother and daughters as soon as possible.”

The children were taken from their mother earlier this year after social workers determined that the woman was unable to “maintain a proper home” for them, said Jeff Aikin, a spokesman for the department.

Initial placements were made before social workers fully reviewed the circumstances. The younger child was placed with the Coxes. The older one was put in a different white home but later moved to a black foster mother’s home.

The 30-year-old mother, who has not been identified in court to protect her children’s identities, has not contested the removal of her children, but she has petitioned the court to overrule the social workers on relocation.

The Coxes joined the children’s mother in protesting the social workers’ decision, arguing that race should not affect any foster placement decisions.

But Goldberger ruled that the couple had no legal standing and that only the mother could appeal.