Issue of care orders

Reference is made to Anna Mallia’s letter Care Orders As Last Resort (May 20).

The Foundation for Social Welfare fully concurs with Mallia’s statement that care orders must only be resorted to when, notwithstanding the skills that are provided, the parent or both parents refuse to improve, and is indeed guided by this principle when issuing care orders, provided this is not detrimental to the interest of the minors concerned.

The foundation fully acknowledges the right of persons with ‘low IQ’ to be parents and that they can fulfill their parental responsibilities with proper support.

The letter gives the impression that the intellectual capacity of parents of vulnerable minors is the sole criterion for the removal of children from the care of such parents. This is entirely not the case since a decision to issue a care order is often based on a number of other considerations that all negatively impinge on the well -being of such children, including lack of parenting skills, lack of motivation to improve such skills and various other social problems.

The foundation similarly rejects the claim that care orders are issued due to the lack of resources of Appoġġ to provide skills to such parents. The agency strives to provide support within the family unit to address any particular difficulties that these families may be facing in the upbringing of their children and has a myriad of community services aimed at addressing the difficulties including social work intervention with children and families encountering difficult situations, parenting skills courses, home-based services such as support by volunteers, the Home-Start Malta service, drug rehabilitation and counselling services, and support to parents of children with disability, among others.

At times, support may come from professionals or other organisations outside the agency. It is only when all available alternatives prove ineffective that care orders are resorted to, although there are exceptional circumstances where the immediate removal of the children is necessary if the family environment poses an imminent risk to such minors.

Following the issue of a care order the agency regularly reviews these cases and duly follows any recommendations issued by the competent authorities.

Parents have a right to object to the issue of a care order before the Juvenile Court and are given the opportunity to present their case and arguments against the issue of a care order. In these circumstances, the Juvenile Court evaluates the case and makes a final decision of whether the Care Order should hold.

Following the issue of a care order, case reviews are held regularly and parents are invited to attend and are given an opportunity to present their views.

In exceptional circumstances, especially due to safety issues, parents may be invited to attend individual meetings in a more controlled setting to avoid potential volatile situations, especially due to safety issues.