JUST PHILOSOPHISING ON - SOCIAL WORK AND THE ADOPTION DILEMMA. PART 2.

 

'It is not about whether a child who has to be found alternative permanent carers is going to suffer some loss and harm as a result, depending on their age and level of understanding and emotional development. 

Rather, it is about whether the harm they are likely to suffer, is likely to be more significant and irreparable, than that which is likely to occur from leaving them in  or returning them to their pre-care setting.'

Although, when parents and carers  harm or take their children's lives, the same local authorities are likely to be accused and condemned for 'not having done anything', or 'not having done enough to protect the child or children.'

Yes, with regards to protecting 'other people's children', it is sometimes, oftentimes, very difficult to doing enough or sufficient.

Probably most of the children who end up in the care of local authorities, and placed with alternative carers within their extended families, with foster carers, adoptors and in children's homes. 

Are removed from their parents because of acute and/or chronic family dysfunctioning. 

They will have been removed because of the family have experienced some major tragedy or crisis, which rule out the parent/s or members of their extended families being able to care for the child/ren. 

These trigger events could be a teenage son or daughter acting out big time and driving their parents crazy.  

Or it could be due to the additional challenge and parental stresses due to a child or young person's struggling to cope with challenging behaviours or disability. 

Or it might be due to chronic child care problems within a family, which requires a child or children to be made the subject of safeguarding plans, to protect them from poor care and serious child abuse and neglect behaviour from their parents.

More often than not, local authorities will be reluctant to remove children from their immediate families. 

And when they are faced with the need to do so, they will first explore the option of placing the child/ren with suitable, and even not so suitable members of their extended families. 

To be continued!