Parents Against Injustice
Parents Against Injustice
The Baby P Effect
The Baby P Effect
Applications for children to be
taken into care hit a record 10,000
SHOCKING figures show a record number of applications from local councils to take children into care in the past 12 months.
They exceeded 10,000 for the first time in the year to the end of March.
A report by the Children And Family Court Advisory And Support Service shows 886 applications were made last month, bringing the total from councils in England to 10,199.
This is a a 10.8 per cent increase from the previous 12 months, when there were 9,202 applications. And there has been a massive leap since 2008-2009, when there were 6,488.
The reason is being put down to a so-called “Baby P effect”, following a tightening of procedures since the sickening case of 17-month-old Peter Connelly, who died in 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries.
Following his death The Sun launched a campaign to ensure the tragedy was never repeated.
The case of Baby P provoked a storm of criticism of police, social workers and health professionals who had visited the toddler 60 times in the last eight months of his life.
His mother Tracey Connelly, her partner Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen were jailed for causing the death.
Connelly received five years, Barker 12, and Owen was released last year after serving two years.
A series of investigations found a number of failings by Haringey Council’s children’s services in north London, run at the time by Sharon Shoesmith.
According to Anthony Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass, the latest figures prove the system now works more effectively.
He said: “It shows that more children are being identified who are living in situations of long-term neglect.
“After the Baby P case local authorities started to intensively review their cases.
“When the microscope was put on a lot of these children’s situations, what was judged to be tolerable before is increasingly being judged as intolerable. From the children’s point of view, that’s a good thing.”
While some might argue the figures show social workers are too quick to take children from their parents, Mr Douglas says the priority is to protect children.
He said: “We’ve seen more miscarriages of justice to children left in impossible situations than to parents whose children have been removed without good reason.
“There are pretty stringent tests. Before a child can be removed the evidence has to be there that they have suffered from serious harm or that they are about to suffer harm.”
Figures in Wales and Scotland, where the child protection systems are different to England, have also increased.
But in Northern Ireland statistics show a drop in referrals for the third quarter of 2011 compared with the previous year.
Mr Douglas added that the number of “at risk” children in England is around three times the figure of those taken into care.
Once an application for care is made it takes an average of 55 weeks to complete.
This process can be started while the child is still at home, or alternatively the child can be removed to stay with other carers, depending on the risk level.
According to Mr Douglas the application time is unfair on the child.
He said “It is far too long but these are life-changing decisions and the process takes time.
“If a child is placed with a foster carer and starts to get help or therapy the child can do much better in a short period of time.
“But if a child can’t go back home within six weeks it’s hard for that child to go back at all because the bonds become very fragile.
“It’s a race against time. The children who really suffer are those in limbo with short-term foster carers, perhaps with another relative. Their future is undecided for far too long.”
If you could give a child in care a loving foster home please visit www.baaf.org.uk or www.giveachildahome.co.uk
But while applications for children to be taken into care have risen, there is a shortage of foster carers to meet the demand.
David Holmes, chief executive of the British Association for Adoption And Fostering (BAAF), said: “The increase in children coming into care means there are, and will continue to be, more children growing up in foster care.
“About 75 per cent of children in care live in foster care. Some are there for days or weeks but often children need foster care for months or years or even the rest of their childhood.
“All of these children deserve a stable family life and the opportunities so many of us just take for granted.
“There is a national shortage of foster carers and we urgently need people to come forward who are interested in fostering children of all ages, from babies to teenagers, from children with special needs to children who need to be found foster homes together with their brothers and sisters.
“The rewards of fostering are immense and the difference to children’s lives that foster carers make is truly incredible.”
Avril Head, 60, from Croydon, south London, has fostered more than 140 children.
She has three grown-up children and two adopted sons.
Avril said: “The fact so many children have been taken into care could never be considered a good thing.
“But I think it does show we’re much more aware of children in potentially dangerous situations and reporting it to social services.
“Social services are also being more cautious with children and their families who they’ve been monitoring and looking after.
“Dozens of the children I’ve looked after have parents who have been in care themselves and have little or no parenting skills.
“What we really need is more support for parents so they know how to love and cherish their babies for their entire lives.”
Dad of three was a paedophile
CASE STUDY 1: A BOY of two was taken away from his dad, a convicted child sex offender. The 32-year-old father said he feared the boy was being failed by authorities.
A letter from Staffordshire County Council read: “Initially everything went well and (the child) appeared to be settled. But sadly, towards the end of November 2011, it appeared the family struggled to meet (the child’s) needs.
“Following much discussion the decision was made to remove (the child) from their care and he returned to foster care in December 2011.”
The dad, from Tamworth, had indecently assaulted children as a teenager but had since completed two sex offender treatment programmes. Two of his previous children had also been taken into care.
He said he was now married, wanted to start a family and wanted his son back. His case was dismissed.
CASE STUDY 2: A MOTHER whose little girl was taken to hospital with bruises on her face and thigh was deemed to be a “danger to children” by a judge. At a hearing at Derby Family Court last August, Judge James Orrell concluded the girl had been “hit or punched” by her mother.
He said: “The court has found the mother is a danger to the children and is totally untrustworthy.”
The woman had two other children who had been taken away after social services discovered their father was a convicted sex offender, then returned to her when they split up. She then got back with the man to have the little girl who was injured.
CASE STUDY 3: A MUM in her early 30s had nine children removed earlier this year. The council responsible, Carmarthenshire, estimated that between ten and 20 per cent of children taken into care come from mothers who repeatedly become pregnant.
Head of children’s services Jake Morgan said: “Many of these women are addicted to drugs or are in fairly appalling conditions.
“We are removing more children at birth. We are waiting in the hospital with police and removing them from the mum. It’s traumatic. ”
CASE STUDY 4: A FIVE-YEAR-OLD was taken into care for being obese, it was revealed in December. The child is thought to have weighed around 4st 4lb, a stone and a half more than the average. The same council, Tameside in Greater Manchester, had taken similar action with a 14-year-old.
CASE STUDY 5: FOUR children were taken into care in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, after their parents left them home alone while they went on holiday. The children, aged 14, ten, seven and five, were discovered living on their own by police last August.
myView
By JANE STACEY, Barnardo’s Deputy Chief Executive
THE increase in the number of children being referred into care might seem alarming.
But I am pleased that decisions are being made more quickly to remove children from damaging situations.
Families who are struggling need to get support early on so they have the tools to do the very best they can.
These are difficult decisions for social workers to make but the interests of the children must come first.
Leaving children in neglectful situations can cause long-term damage. So professionals do have to act.
But there is a real need for more foster parents and more adoptive parents.
We would be very happy to hear from members of the public who would consider coming forward.
Foster parenting is very challenging but it is also very rewarding.
Care can and does improve the lives of vulnerable children.
This is why it is essential that we ensure there are more foster or adoptive parents available to provide them with a stable and loving home.
Barnardo’s is urging more people to consider putting themselves forward as potential fosters or adopters.
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