Written evidence from Parents Against Injustice (CFA0108)

HOUSE OF LORDS CHILDREN AND FAMILIES ACT 2014 SELECT COMMITTEE INQURY

Please accept this submission by Parents Against Injustice to the Inquiry into the Children and Families Act 2014.

Parents Against Injustice (PAIN) is a voluntary organisation which has for the past 37 years advised and supported parents and carers who claim that they have been falsely accused of abusing the children in their care. We receive enquiries from parents and grandparents through our helpline, emails and social networking and feel that we are well placed to act as an advocate for parents to say where the current system is unfair and ineffective – and fails not only the parents but, as a consequence, their children.

If there were to be a Children and Families Act 2022, what should it include and what might be the barriers to implementation?

The emphasis on future legislation must be on keeping families together. For a new Act to improve the situation for children and families much more emphasis needs to be placed on family support before proceedings have started to take children into care. The majority of cases we are involved in on a daily basis have the common denominator that family support is at best, poor, and, at worst, non-existent. Some councils do have good family support available but our  caseload, which is national, often throws up the same local authorities appearing as instigators of proceedings which suggests that it is not all down to budgetary decisions. 

The primary barrier to implementation of more support is, of course, the lack of resources but over our 37 year history we have seen thousands of children wrongly taken away from their parents and carers and if this figure is to be reduced then measures need to be investigated into finding the best way to do this. 

For those cases that go on to involve care proceedings, there has to be clearer directions and advice from social workers to parents as many of our cases show that parents often feel that they are in the dark, particularly in relation to expectations and by when they can be attained. Some are even unaware of what exactly is being alleged at the start of the proceedings. A possible solution here would be to introduce more independent advocacy but we can see barriers to the involvement of groups such as ourselves coming from social services.

Is the Act enabling faster, more secure and stable adoptions which are in the best interests of the child?

The 26-week limit on care and placement proceedings is too inflexible and does not reflect the fact that cases can be complicated.

PAIN

25 April 2022

May 2022