Family Minister denies dwindling care orders rate

Family Minister Dolores Cristina has denied the Opposition Leader’s claims that fewer care orders are being issued because of a lack of vacancies in children’s homes.

“Most care order recommendations that reached the ministry are accepted, even when placements are a difficulty,” her spokesman said. There was only one case this year when the minister was advised to issue a care order but chose not to. This was because she felt there “were not sufficient grounds” and preferred the child to be monitored by professionals in her natural home. Removing children from their homes should always be a “last resort”, the spokesman said.

During a political activity the day before the Budget, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said various social workers told him that, due to lack of placements, children who needed the protection of care orders were being forced to remain in abusive homes.

When questioned about Dr Muscat’s claims, the ministry spokesman produced a monthly breakdown of the number of care orders issued so far this year compared to the previous three years (see below).

“As is obvious from these statistics, the number of care orders issued to date this year follows the trend of previous years,” he said.

Twenty-nine care orders were issued so far this year compared to 31 in the first 10 months of last year and 30 in the same period in 2008.

Asked whether there were any vacancies for children in government, Church or NGO-run homes, the spokesman admitted he had “no such information”. However, he said the ideal option was to place children in foster care even in emergency situations.

“The placements of children with care orders depend on the needs of each child and the recommendations made by professionals in the said care order,” he added.

Despite the statistics, Dr Muscat continued to insist there was a problem, arguing social workers and people engaged in child protection services had realised it was “pointless” to apply for a care order because all placements were full. “Therefore, the problem is not that care orders are being refused but that care orders are not being applied for in the first place,” his spokesman said when contacted.

He added it was not only the Labour Party highlighting the “sorry state” of child protection services in Malta, quoting Sedqa director George Grech as saying 900 children were living with drug addict parents and there were no resources to address their needs.