Shoe box baby joins 213 'care order' children

The baby boy found in a shoe box by three children in an alley in Cospicua last Sunday has joined more than 200 other children who fall under the responsibility of Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina.

The baby is still being held at St Luke's Hospital but is in good health and is expected to be discharged soon.

His 19-year-old mother, who was identified shortly after the baby was found, is still in hospital.

The police are still investigating how the baby ended up in the alley.

A ministry spokesman told The Times there are 213 children under a care order, 40 of whom are unaccompanied minors seeking asylum.

She explained that the minister's role is to follow the advice and recommendations given by the Children and Young Persons Advisory Board.

"The board monitors all the children very closely and case conferences are held on a regular basis. However, the minister then has to directly approve any salient decisions concerning the child in question," she said. The spokesman said that while care orders were important to protect minors, the moment of victory came when a child was eventually reunited with its family.

An interim care order for the shoe box baby was issued by Agenzija Appogg on Tuesday.

The family has 21 days to appeal against the order before a full care order is issued, but the Foundation for Social Welfare Services' chief executive officer, Joe Gerada, said this rarely happens.