Babies in the care system – are we saving or failing them?

Yvonne Healing 18 St John Street Chambers

We are all experienced in the all too familiar scenario - an application to the court is made late in the day - a baby has just been born - the mother is told that the child will be removed -

There is very little time to collate evidence.

The mother is recovering from the birth - she is usually still in hospital.

A duty guardian is asked to become involved.

There is no or limited court time to deal with the case.

These circumstances are very challenging for everybody involved in child protection work - and there can be little doubt that this is a far from ideal.

Can this situation be avoided?

In this article I am looking at the practical application of the law and practice guidance in respect of babies before and following birth.

There are far too many cases which come to court in which the mother is not told about a plan for removal until shortly before or even after the birth of the baby. Apart from this being indescribably brutal it also in many cases misses opportunities for work to be undertaken...

Read the full article here.