John Rolé’s aim is to recruit more foster parents. Photo: Jason Borg

Reinstated foster care team leader John Rolé never imagined his removal would result in such an overwhelming public response and he hopes his experience will spawn a discussion about much needed change to the system.

Looking serene but drained, Mr Rolé told Times of Malta in his first interview since his ordeal that he was relieved and grateful to be back in the job.

On Friday, he was informed that he would be transferred from Aġenzija Appoġġ to another department.

The move sparked an online petition and an outcry from foster carers, social workers and former fostered children.

Government sources had told this newspaper that following the public outcry, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat intervened in the matter and asked Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia to reinstate Mr Rolé.

Several attempts were made to contact Foundation for Social Welfare Services CEO Alfred Grixti yesterday to understand why Dr Farrugia was initially faced with a fait accompli on the decision to remove Mr Rolé, but he did not reply by the time of going to print.

I have striven to keep myself up to date with the latest research

The sources had also said Mr Rolé was removed following an internal disagreement with people at the foundation.

The 58-year-old had often submitted internal criticism and many suspected this was the reason behind his unceremonious removal. Pressed to say what he felt could have been the reason behind the unexpected move, Mr Rolé was reluctant to speak out, especially since he had been reinstated and did not wish to destabilise the state of affairs.

Instead he preferred to put this ordeal behind him and focus his energy on driving a change in the island’s fostering system.

“I have been involved in fostering for a long time. But I have striven to keep myself up to date with the latest literature and research. I haven’t stuck to what I learnt in 1985. I even fork out money from my own pocket to attend conferences organised by the International Foster Care Organisation,” he said.

“There are also many other people equipped with knowledge and experience in the field. Teaming up and working together is the way forward.”

‘Children’s stability of vital importance’

What is his vision for a better fostering system?

“The children’s stability is of paramount importance. Perhaps we should be looking at the concept of permanent fostering in those particular cases where there is a very minimal chance of the birth parents ever being in a position to care for their children.

“Offering stability is beneficial to the child and to society at large. Children who have stability will grow up to be adults who can manage their own families and keep their jobs.”

The Foster Care Act, Mr Rolé said, should be amended so that if the child has been living with a foster family for a long period and if social workers determined there was a very minimal possibility of the child ever returning to his or her birth parents, the child’s mind should be put at rest that they would be able to remain with their foster parents.

Contact with the birth family should always be maintained

Birth parents, he added, should be given all the help and support they needed to ensure the weekly time spent with their children was not merely contact time but a positive parenting experience.

“Birth parents should be given all the necessary support so that when the child shows that he or she is ready to return to them, the parents would be able to offer them stability.

“Contact with the birth family should always be maintained. But in those cases where the situation shows no signs of improvement, they should be offered permanent fostering.

“That way, the children, the birth parents and the foster parents would not be kept hanging on a thread, uncertain of what the future holds. And you would be quelling certain children’s fears that their birth mother was only meeting them with the intention of eventually taking them back.

“If the law changes, they would actually be able to enjoy their quality time with their birth mother.”

There also had to be more stability in the Children and Young Persons Advisory Board, tasked with making provisions for the care of minors. It had been the general practice for board members to be substituted upon every change of government.

The transition had to be given time, Mr Rolé cautioned. A lot of training and research was also needed to prepare for the proposal of shifting the responsibility of care orders, which currently falls on the Social Policy Ministry, to the courts.

“We must ensure the environment is a friendly one and does not trigger fear in vulnerable children.”

His aim was to recruit more foster parents, who were the ones who worked miracles and devoted so much to the child. Appoġġ has four training programmes prepared this year for prospective foster carers.

“If you look at research... it is clear that a child’s readiness is central. As an agency, we must strive to determine when a child is ready and when his or her parents are ready.”