Parents losing children in ‘loaded system’
Against a background of prejudice and out-of-date assessments, six out of 10 parents with learning disabilities are having their children removed for adoption, research by Bristol University suggests.
In Birmingham, where children’s services were described as “not fit for purpose” in a government report, social workers have told the BBC the system is loaded against the learning disabled who are more likely to lose their children than keep them.
A whistleblower in Birmingham City Council’s social services department said: “We frequently remove children from young mothers who continue to have children.
“We frequently go back and remove one child after the other, but we’ll find there’s been very little or no work done with that mother from having a first child removed to giving birth to the second child.”
Anna Marriott, a researcher at the Nora Fry institute based at Bristol University, said the system discriminated against the learning disabled.
She told the BBC: “Rather than looking for any actual evidence of problems with parents coping, (social workers) just assume the parent won’t be able to cope.
“And rather than looking to put a support plan in place, they’ll look to initiate child protection proceedings.”
The Birmingham whistleblower agrees, claiming once one child has been removed, removal of the family’s next child is virtually automatic.
She added, once one assessment has been made by social workers and psychologists, the same assessments are likely to be re-dated and re-used for when another child comes along.
The whistleblower said: “Lots of people will copy over old info, not checking the primary source of material.”
‘Helping children’
Isabelle Plumstead, a leading family court judge said she had concerns about multiple child removals and wanted to see much more support put in place.
“If you help the parents, of course you are helping the children.
“And when you, as I have, come across the eighth, ninth, 10th, or even in one case the 14th child of a parent being in care proceedings, how much better if the thing could have been cracked at number one.”
Christine Spooner had two children removed from her care and placed for adoption by Birmingham Children’s Services.
At the time her condition, Aspergers syndrome, had not been diagnosed.
She said: “They didn’t understand the person I was. They just seemed to look at the weakest parts, what I couldn’t do. They didn’t even try and think about what I could do”. Support for learning disabled parents is available through organisations such as Citizen Advocacy South Birmingham (CASBA).
Specialist workers help to guide learning disabled parents through a complex legal process which can be emotionally draining.
CASBA serves the whole of South Birmingham but is staffed for only 58 hours per week.
Vice chair Sior Coleman said: “The harsh reality is that we don’t have enough money. “There is an understanding from the authorities that it’s an important service, but it’s seen as a luxury - as an add-on.” The whistleblower said she had been in meetings along with 17 professionals and one parent with no representation or support. She said in some cases the parent had been identified as having issues with anger management, poor communication skills, or poor concentration.
She added: “So they have to sit and listen to the most intimate details of their lives and their children’s lives [being] discussed in a professional forum and they are expected to behave as professionals.
“And if they are not behaving in that way, they will be judged on that.”
The BBC put the social worker’s claims to the new director of Birmingham Children’s Services, Colin Tucker, who said: “I’ve got to change that because I would agree with you that isn’t fair, that isn’t proper and that isn’t right. “I want to talk to parents with learning disabilities, not to patronise them or make excuses, but to genuinely listen to their stories and see how I can respond to that.” It is too late for Christine Spooner, though, whose children have now been adopted and are with new families.
She has devoted herself to volunteer work, helping to support parents going through a similar experience, and is campaigning for change. She said: “I’m sick and tired of the negative attitude and I want people to think more positively about learning disabled people. “Realistically I would love to be a parent again, but what if it happens again? What if it goes on again?
“I don’t want to have my heart torn out the third time in a row. I’ve had enough pain in my life. I don’t want any more”.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/8344410.stm
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On 18th Jan 2010 at 01:06 PM not a MP said...
Why are the media not banging on Brian Gerrish's door, he should be in all the newspapers, main news, breakfast show's, etc
Thousands of children are being stolen in the UK by the state every year, and the media is deadly silent.
What is happening to these children is disgusting; with a fraction of the coverage given to the Mccan's this could be stopped this overnight.
Please dont let the brave work of Brian Gerrish , who has done far more in one hour to expose this evil , than all the MP's and so-called media put together.
Will this be hidden under the 100 year secrecy act like the Dunblane atrocities,
Please dont let it , pass this on to everybody you know, mass exposure is needed NOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85nO1UMUznQ
On 14th Mar 2010 at 10:58 AM rachel morriss said...
there not banging on his door because Kevin williams and the nhs and ss aand anthony d head of family courts advisery services cafcas block people by phone taping and watching there targets closly ie the parent or anyone close to them that can expose the new tactics this is why there using psych doctors do you remember on the bbc 10th of june doctor southall and eadows this is used more than you know why do you think theres an increase in mental health problems the usage of personality disorder is over used to protect there back and to remove children from parents care so if ther not contacting you check younot bugged lve made contact with papers and max clifferd he sent an email saying he would lookinto it and get back to us but he never did my friend who l had contacted him was shocked as shes had dealings with him before and never seen anything like it. They want let anyone outside they hide behind the nspcc and many more just keep trying its got to be stopped keep up the good work.
On 24th Jul 2010 at 08:32 PM Yvonne Stewart Taylor said...
Lucy Smith left an annotation (23 July 2010)
It would seem that this practice of 'child stealing' is a nationwide occurrence. I have (and still am) going through exactly the same thing regarding my own grandchildren who were taken from their family six years ago and have now been split up and adopted. I won't go into too many details at the moment, suffice to say that the children were not in danger of significant harm from any member of the family.
Lincolnshire County Council adopted the same practices as the above mentioned. I (as their maternal grandmother) made a request to become a party to the proceedings, but this request was denied, even though I had looked after them for over three years. I do not have a criminal record and have successfully brought up a family of five children myself. My eldest grand- children who at the time were aged nine and seven, made it clear that they wanted to live with me, but their request was ignored.
I was lied to by (the many changing) social workers, who told me that the children had said they did not want to live with me. Contact was granted to me for two hours, once a month, in an obscure location, which meant I had to catch three different trains in order to get there, but I did it. Contact was supervised by someone who sat making notes in a corner and if my grand-daughter needed the toilet, we were accompanied to the toilet because they obviously thought I was going to harm her in some way! My seven year old grand daughter told me that it was because they thought I would steal her! Who put this information in her head?
The children were eventually put up for adoption against my wishes, but I had no say in it, as I am only their grandmother. The two youngest went first - to a couple who promised to write through the letterbox system, but have not honoured their promise. The eldest two were placed with foster carers and then moved to a couple who adopted them. The social worker told me that she would only allow the children to be released to the couple if they were to agree to an open adoption, as it would cause the children significant harm to have no contact with me and their natural family. Again I told the social services that I wanted to look after them myself, and I was told I should ask for an assessment, which I did, but the assessor never turned up. when I rang and enquired I was told again that the children did not want to live with me.
The adopters have not honoured the agreement, refusing all direct contact, even though the children (now aged 16 and 13) have made repeated requests to see me. I have made contact with the children myself, as I found out where they were living, and they were overjoyed to be back in touch with us. My grand-daughter has sent me an email telling me how much she loves me and that she never wanted to go anywhere other than back to me, and my grandson has told me that before we made contact she tried to run away three times.
Since then, the adopters have found out, and have now put a block on the social networking site and intercept their emails. They have also taken their mobile phones from them, and forbidden them to speak to us. I'm sure that once the dust has settled they will be in touch with me again though, as they are clearly unhappy where they are.
It is frustrating because I'm powerless against these people who shouldn't have been given the children in the first place.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Lucy