The number of care orders being issued has dropped to just a handful despite referrals of children for protection having increased.
According to social policy and social work lecturer Daniella Zerafa, the drop is worrying as it suggests that care orders are not being issued in grave cases. There was a 60 per cent drop in care orders issued between 2011 and 2015,
The figures were reported amid growing concern about the care order system, and ahead of a revamp of child protection to be discussed this week in Parliament.
Data provided by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services show a drop from 51 care orders in 2011 to 21 in 2015, while the number of referrals of children to Child Protection Service increased from 728 in 2011 to 874 in 2015. The number of care orders decreased gradually: there were 34 care orders in 2012, 33 in 2013 and 27 in 2014.
PN spokesman for children’s rights Robert Cutajar told this newspaper he was informed that only two care orders have been issued so far this year. Asked to confirm this figure, no replies were received from the Family Ministry by the time this newspaper went to print. Earlier this week, Minister Michael Farrugia denied that fewer care orders were being issued on his insistence.
The Opposition has been pushing for consultation on the law protecting children for some 18 months, and the “worrying” drop is one of the issues Mr Cutajar brought up in recent discussions.
His comments came following media reports of a case of a six-year old involved in an alleged sexual abuse case. His 60-year-old father was charged in court for engaging prostitutes to “prevent him from becoming gay”.
Asked to explain the drop in care orders, a spokeswoman for the Family Ministry insisted the procedure has remained unchanged for the past years.
Care orders, she said, were issued following reports by professionals of children in need of care, protection or control.
She also noted that the law regulating care orders would be revamped upon the enactment of the Child Protection Act, currently being debated in Parliament.
The Maltese Association of Social Workers is one of those calling for an overhaul of the system.
Insisting that social workers should be able to carry out their duties autonomously and independently, with all the necessary legal backup and resources, a spokeswoman told this newspaper that MASW agrees with the proposal of having the Courts – rather than the minister – issue care orders.
Asked about the drop in care orders and increase in referrals of children, the MASW spokeswoman said there was no automatic correlation, as not all referrals merited a care order.
Meanwhile, she noted that, while the association has not received official complaints about instructions to “go slow” on care orders, social workers on social media have hinted that some were not being allowed to take the decisions they should be taking.
Ms Zerafa, who is finalising her doctorate on care orders, noted that a decrease was worrying as care orders were always issued for very serious circumstances.
It was therefore very important to evaluate what was contributing to the decrease and to explore whether different child protection methods were as effective as care orders.
“Although there have been efforts to increase the services provided to families in the community, they have not increased in amount, intensity and specialisation enough to explain this decrease in the number of care orders,” she added.
Additionally, it is highly unlikely that the numbers of serious cases of child abuse have declined – with recent cases including that of the six-year-old forced into sexual activities and a nine-year-old struck with a belt and a wooden chair. If anything, recent statistics show an increase in reports of domestic violence and rape cases.
Research indicates children should be removed from parental care only when absolutely necessary. However, it also suggests that, when such action was called for but no care order is issued, the State would be failing children, she added.