Court warns mother her future children could be taken away

Monday 12 August 2019

The Royal Court has warned a mother that it might take away her future children if she does not address her drug addiction and mental health issues.

The warning came in a judgment in which the Court explained its decision to free the woman’s youngest child – who was born drug dependent - for adoption.

The application to free the child for adoption was submitted by the Minister for Health and Social Services, who concluded the child was at risk of “significant harm” as a result of the mother's “continuing drug addiction problem” and her “chaotic relationship” with the child’s father.

The case was heard by the Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, sitting with Jurats Robert Christensen and Kim Averty. In their judgment, they noted that the woman had previously come before the court regarding care orders for her other children.

Pictured: The Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, sitting with Jurats Robert Christensen and Kim Averty, heard the case in Court.

The Court acknowledged some parents are able “to cope and provide good enough parenting … notwithstanding their drug misuse", but added that the woman also had a number of mental health issues for which she had refused treatment as she considered there was nothing wrong with her.

This led the Court to conclude that “the child has suffered and is likely to suffer significant harm and that the harm and the likelihood of that harm are attributable to the care likely to be given to the child if the order were not made, that care falling short of it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give the child.”

Whilst the Bailiff and Jurats said they could not imagine “how distressing it must be for the mother to see each of her children being taken away from her”, they noted the result was inevitable as the Court focuses on “the interests of the child.” “We earnestly hope she will accept the need for treatment,” they said.

Pictured: The Court considered whether to place the child with a family member, but this was not possible.

The Court’s decision was further motivated by the risk of the child being exposed to domestic violence or abuse. Of this, the court said: “…The world will become a challenging and hostile environment where there is an ever-present risk of danger and damage. No child can fulfil [their] potential in those circumstances."

A number of options were considered for the child, including a placement with extended family members or a long-term foster placement, but none of them were deemed suitable for the welfare of the child.

The Court was therefore left with “no other option” but approving that the child be legally separated from her birth family and be freed for adoption - a decision “vigorously resisted” by both parents. 

Pictured: The Court shared hopes that the child would be adopted in the same family as one of their siblings.

The Court noted one of the child’s half-siblings had also been adopted and that it would “be extremely desirable if that could turn out to be an appropriate adoptive placement for the child as well, as [they] would have a better understanding of [their] personal identity.”

Until a family is found for the child, the Court allowed both parents to see the child, separately, every two weeks.

Concluding their judgment, the Court warned the mother that if she ever has another child with the father, or another man, and does not accept treatment to address her issues, they would likely take that child away.

Pictured: The Court urged the woman to seek treatment if she does not want her future children to be taken away from her.

The Court wrote: “If the mother addresses the issues which she has, proceedings of the present kind may be avoided in the future; but if she does not, it seems to us to be entirely likely that there will be a similar application by the Minister when the next child is born and there is at least a very real risk of the same outcome.”

Since 2016, the Children’s Service have adopted a “pre-proceedings” process, designed to avoid court proceedings. When the Children’s Service are considering issuing care proceedings, the child and family are made aware of the nature of the concerns and what is expected of them to avoid care proceedings being issued. 

Last year, there were 13 cases in pre-proceedings, of which two went on to court. The remainder were either concluded satisfactorily or are continuing.

According to the Law Officers' Department's annual report, this means this process has been successful in avoiding the need for some children to be made subject to care proceedings and has allowed those children to remain with their families.