Parents in battle over 'lost children'


Parents in battle over 'lost children' THEY stand side by side, united in frustration, anger and grief. 31 May 2006 Source: Sheffield Today Help us: Some of the mums who have been parted from their children, at the protest outside Sheffield Town Hall Picture: Stuart Hastings Parents and grandparents who have had children taken away from them joined together in a protest outside Sheffield Town Hall. They were campaigning for changes in social services and law courts to give parents a greater chance of bringing up their own children. Yvonne Caulter, of Derbyshire-based action group Unity Injustice, said: "At the moment families are being broken up by social services going in and taking children away rather than putting support packages in place. "I formed Unity Injustice to campaign for an independent body to be brought in and check that guidelines are all being followed. "We're not saying that all social workers are bad and we're not saying abuse doesn't happen. It does. But there are other reasons given for children being taken away - such as parents' low IQ or mental health. "There's a lack of communication between authorities such as doctors, social services, probation and the police and yet, if there was more communication and an independent body working with all agencies, some families could be kept together." She added: "We believe more than half of child protection cases would be better resolved using support packages and family mediation. We do not accept that removal and adoption is the best solution in every case." One 42-year-old mum revealed she had not seen two of her children for four years. She said: "I was in a violent relationship but I wasn't protected from that - I just had my children taken away. My former partner is now in prison but I'm still not allowed contact with my kids. "It really hurts. It's a pain you feel every day as soon as you wake up. It's a form of grief." Another mum, 43, said her post-natal depression and subsequent breast cancer led to her daughter being taken away and adopted. She explained: "Social services got involved because of my post-natal depression. She kept being taken away and brought back, then one day she didn't come back any more. "The only contact I'm allowed is by letter, but the last time I heard of her was last September when her adoptive mother wrote to tell me how she was getting on at school. I'm disgusted and angry that they can just walk into your house and take your kids away." A 38-year-old dad told how he and his wife were judged to be "not clever enough" to keep their two young boys. He said: "They're in foster care because social services didn't think we were clever enough to bring them up. We go to college, to do classes in basic English and maths but there's still no sign of them being allowed to come home. We miss them very much." Sheffield protest against the abduction of our children. Click to listen Radio Sheffield May 30, 2006 (3.4mb Windows Media Audio) Mother and Fathers took to Sheffield Town Hall today protesting for the return of their children taken into the care of the Local Authority.
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