Court criticises council over 'brutal separation' of sisters in care
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
A council has been criticised by a judge after two sisters in its care were “brutally separated” when an attempt to find an adopted home for them failed.
The girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became the subject of care proceedings in 2016 as they could not be looked after by their family.
The court was assured by the unnamed council, at the time they were taken into care, that the children would be kept together and a “good home” would be found for them, according to recently published legal documents about the case.
“Although the children would likely not have direct contact with the rest of their family, they would be able to grow up with a blood relative – their sister – and have contact with them every day; at least they would have each other,” states Judge Gillian Matthews in a ruling only recently made public after the case was heard in private at Middlesbrough County Court last year.
This was especially important due to the “strong attachment” the sisters had, despite their age difference – at the time they were taken into care, one was a baby and one of primary school age.
But after an attempt to place the children for adoption failed, the council involved “brutally separated the children” suddenly and “subsequently terminated their sibling relationship, allowing them only one further meeting after that separation which was facilitated at as a goodbye visit”, states Judge Matthews, adding that she was making the situation public to “serve as a cautionary tale” to other childcare professionals.
The judge said that future contact between them must be actively promoted if possible.
The council is further criticised for not notifying the sisters’ family of their separation until months afterwards. It also failed to notify the court or seek guidance from court advisory service Cafcass.
“The family has been devastated by the separation of the girls,” adds Judge Matthews’ judgement.
The separate guardians for both girls and their birth mother are also looking to take further legal action against the council under the Human Rights Act.
This month, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services stressed the importance of maintaining contact between siblings that are separated within the care system.
“The decision to separate siblings is never taken lightly,” said Charlotte Ramsden, ADCS health, care and additional needs policy committee chair.
“Where they cannot live together, siblings must be supported to understand the reasons for this, and there should be robust plans for meaningful contact between them, so long as it’s consistent with their welfare.
“Contact arrangements should be regularly reviewed to reflect the fact that children’s needs can, and do, change over time, and clear contact plans should be made at the start of placements.”
She added that reasons for separation of siblings can include emotional and behavioural concerns. In addition, “finding enough foster carers or adopters who are willing and able to take sibling groups continues to be a national challenge”.
According to figures from Ofsted from 2015, 13 per cent of siblings were placed separately despite being assessed as needing to be placed together.
University of London’s Professor Daniel Monk and Dr Jan Macvarish, writing in CYP Now, outlined measures social work professionals and the courts needed to take to help separated siblings maintain contact.
This includes addressing the “strong assumption” that direct contact cannot continue if one sibling is adopted but others remain in care.
