For children who cannot live with their birth parents, the primary focus is on establishing a safe, child-focused and well-resourced relationship with a carer, whether that is foster care, adoption or special guardianship. Whether the placement is short or long term, this relationship is core to the child’s development and wellbeing. We also know that this perspective, while important, is limited when it does not reflect the fundamental significance of another set of relationships – those with the child’s brothers or sisters.
Sibling relationships are some of the most significant that any of us will experience over our lifetime. The “shared experience” of siblings within a family cannot be replicated in any other set of relationships, particularly when it comes to bearing shared witness to abuse and neglect for children in care.
The Children Act 1989, S22(8)(c) places a duty on a local authority to ensure that if a child has a sibling for whom the local authority is also providing accommodation, it enables the siblings to live together. However, despite this clear responsibility, a recent freedom of information request by the BBC has shown that more than 12,000 children in care are not living with at least one of their siblings. This illustrates the serious challenge for the care system in prioritising and facilitating placements that enable siblings to maintain their relationships.
It can be difficult to find a suitable placement, especially if it is made in an emergency. These will typically centre on the foster carers’ physical space in their home and other resources needed to care for more than one child. These challenges can also apply when finding a longer-term placement. They may be partially resolved by the local authority or fostering provider making adaptations or providing identified resources.
There must be a detailed understanding of the needs of each individual child alongside their sibling relationships. It is not unusual for an older child to have become the full-time carer for their younger siblings when there has been significant neglect by their birth parents. An individual child may also have special needs. And then there is the challenging issue of the impact of significant sibling rivalry or conflict, including abuse, between siblings.
Each of these questions pose serious challenges for children’s services and the courts when making care plans or permanence orders. They can only be responsibly addressed through full and proper understanding by the professionals responsible for the children, including psycho-social and health assessments, as well as ensuring that the wishes and feelings of each child are taken into account.
A recent test case in Scotland has brought sibling issues into focus. The case, known as ABC, involves a 14-year-old (now aged 16) who wanted to have a say in decisions made about his sibling at children’s hearings. ABC argued that the decision-making process for the hearings did not provide him with the protection required by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that the interference with his family life with his sibling was therefore unlawful. The court did not accept that the decisions were unlawful, but ABC is now seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Scottish parliament is also considering a draft bill to ensure the views of the child are heard in contact and residence cases.
The care system must be driven by its primary duty as set out in international agreements and domestic legislation to make relationships, not break them. Sadly, the evidence indicates that breaking relationships is too often the outcome, and that this can have a profound impact on children’s wellbeing – both now and in the future. Addressing these urgent issues is not easy as the care system struggles with multiple questions – resources, a stable, child-focused and evidence-informed workforce and a shortage of foster carers and adopters that are supported to facilitate sibling relationships. The Care Review just announced by the Department for Education must prioritise this issue and ensure that the sector is resourced to respond.
POINTS FOR PRACTICE
- A child’s sibling relationships must be fully identified from the beginning of care planning and assessed for quality and significance.
- Each child must have a comprehensive assessment of their needs and development.
- There must be an explicit identification of the protective and risk factors when it comes to placing siblings together or apart.
- When siblings are not placed together, providing opportunities for their relationships to develop must be a part of each child’s care plan.
- Carers must be fully briefed on any sibling relationships and supported to facilitate those relationships.
- Sibling relationships must be explicitly discussed in any review of the placement and included in every child’s life story work.
LEGAL NEWS IN BRIEF
Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill
Welsh Assembly members voted 36 to 14 to approve the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill. The new law will come into force in 2022 and will be accompanied by an extensive awareness campaign throughout Wales to inform the public about the changes.
Mandatory Training on Learning Disabilities and Autism Bill 2019-20
The Mandatory Training on Learning Disabilities and Autism Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Baroness Hollins, had its first reading in the House of Lords on 16 January 2020. The bill seeks to introduce mandatory training on learning disability and autism for all health and social care staff undertaking regulated activities in England.
Transparency Review
The president of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has launched a review of the regulation of public access to information in family proceedings. As part of this Transparency Review, he is inviting people to submit evidence, advice or any other relevant material. Of particular interest is comment relating to the balance between the need of confidentiality and the need of public transparency.
Vulnerable Witnesses Act (Scotland) 2019
New legislation ensuring that any child witness in the most serious criminal cases will have their evidence pre-recorded came into force on 20 January. The change, which will apply to certain cases in the High Court, will spare under-18s the potential trauma of giving evidence during a trial. It will apply to cases where the accused first appears on petition on or after 20 January 2020. In cases where the accused does not appear on petition it will apply to cases where an indictment is served on or after 20 October 2020.
Online Harms Bill
New powers will be given to the watchdog Ofcom to force social media firms to act over harmful content such as violence, cyber-bullying and child abuse. Platforms will need to ensure that content is removed quickly and will also be expected to “minimise the risks” of it appearing at all or face fines and criminal prosecution for breaches. A parliamentary bill enacting the duty of care is expected by the summer and new laws could be in place within 18 months.
