CYP Now - Analysis: Learning disabilities - Parenting support vital tofamilies

Almost half of parents with learning disabilities do not look after their children, but new research has suggested that with the right support this does not have to be the case. Ruth Smith takes a look at how some schemes are keeping families together.

Fiona is a mother with learning difficulties. Four of her children havebeen taken into care.

This is not an unusual story for parents with learning difficulties.

Last year, a study found that 48 per cent of these parents were notlooking after their own children, either because they'd been taken intocare or friends and family were caring for them.

The problem is made worse by the fact that support for parents withlearning difficulties is patchy. "If councils are funding specificservices or have a strategic approach it won't be the norm and will bereliant on the voluntary sector," says Ruth Dalzell, manager of theFamily Support Unit at the National Children's Bureau (NCB).

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