Social services bosses in Leicestershire defend forced adoption cases
Social services have forcibly adopted more than 200 children in Leicestershire in the past five years.
The figures, requested under the Freedom of Information Act by the Leicester Mercury, show the number of times that Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council have applied to the courts to have children adopted against their parents' will on welfare grounds.
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Social services bosses in Leicestershire defend forced adoption cases
Adoption by another family is the final and most drastic stage of the child protection process, and is only carried out if all other attempts to make a child's family home safe fail.
Cheriel O'Neill, the city council's head of service for children's resources, said: "Whenever a concern is raised about a child's welfare a council's ultimate aim is to keep a child with their parents, provided the environment they live in can be made safe."
Both councils say that alcohol and drug abuse are factors in many of the adoption cases, but physical, sexual or emotional abuse are also triggers for action.
Ms O'Neill said: "If a child is at risk of significant harm in their environment then a child protection conference is called."
This conference brings together agencies from across the city to put a plan in place with a child's parents to improve their welfare.
If this fails, councils can apply to take the children into care. If the council then reaches a stage at which all options for allowing the child to return home are exhausted, adoption is then looked at as a possibility.
Ms O'Neill said: "Local authorities deal with hundreds of cases every year, so it really is a tiny proportion which reach the adoption stage."
This year, 12 adoption orders have been made by the county council and a further 17 so far by the city council.
Ms O'Neill also pointed out that some parents choose to relinquish control of their children at birth. Two women have already chosen to give up their child in 2010 in the city. Parents go through counselling before making the decision, and have a period of several weeks in which to change their mind.







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by James Moore, Nottingham England
Thursday, July 29 2010, 2:12AM
“This is why Freedom Advocacy & Law have FILED a CLASS ACTION at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. The aim of the Class Action is to bring to the attention of the highest Court in the World, the many reasons why constant failings in Law, Statutes, Protocols and Procedures accompanied by governmental neglect to addressing this problem, is systematically aiding children to be removed for the wrong reasons, families to be broken, children that do require intervention being overlooked, nonresident parents and extended family members being denied contact with offspring, and what can only be described as crimes against humanity to be allowed to both perpetuate unchallenged.
How can this be allowed to continue in a country that takes so much pride in its human rights issues as well as considering itself as a developed ¿1st World¿ nation? And how can this have been allowed to continue for so long, unchallenged? Is there a hidden agenda to what is going on, that the general public is not allowed to see the dark side of, and if so what is it?
Should there not be a facility available either through judicial appeal or through government approved process, where people embroiled in child and family matters are allowed to address their concerns without criteria and where their case will be reviewed? There is no provision for ¿true appeal¿ in the Royal Courts of Justice or the European Court of Human Rights where cases can be heard in their entirety, both failing with unreasonable timescales for adoption or through the denial of investigation through judicial process that disallows appeal, outside their processes and procedures, which is the reason why this Action is being taken out of normal procedural route.
This leaves people only one course for action, in the form of a Class Action which has been filed at The Hague.
Hence, this Action brought for and on behalf of many hundreds of parents, offspring and extended family members with the aim of bringing to light the massive Human Rights violations committed against the families of the UK by their OWN GOVERNMENT on the World stage, and to start to bring about full redress and accountability.”
by Ian, MONACO
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 11:19PM
“Why this contribution is important
FREE SPEECH IS VITAL IN A DEMOCRACY;It is wrong that when parents have their children removed in the family courts they are GAGGED and JAILED if they speak out.If the new government believes in free speech they should remove the gag on parents AND THEIR CHILDREN when they are involved in care proceedings in the family courts.
Family life is the cornerstone of a free democracy ,yet although the human rights act(article 8) is supposed to keep families together to enjoy an undisturbed family life UK judges pervert it to split up families by balancing the so called best interests of the children AGAINST THAT OF THE PARENTS to enjoy family life when in fact the two should coincide not be balanced so that the family is split up "in the interests of the children !
Forced ADOPTION is a crime as it inevitably concerns happy well cared for children who are good adoption material.Battered children like Baby P are never considered for adoption and their parents or carers would never go to court to try and retain them.Only parents that really care for their children endure counless gruelling court sessions trying to recover them and the tragedy is that they nearly always lose !Child traffiking is as old as the" oldest profession" and often linked to it. Forced adoption should be abolished !
"12 MEN GOOD AND TRUE" and "judgement by one's peers" are concepts that go back to 1215 and Magna Carta ! Parents lose children to strangers on the word of one "establishment "judge and that is wrong.Such drastic legal disintegration of families demands a jury and that is a change in the law that should be introduced as soon as possible.”
by Ian, monaco
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 11:04PM
“Scrap forced adoption and allow birth parents free speech !
Thousand of babies and young children are taken by social workers from their mothers for "risk of emotional abuse".These children are then ordered by compliant judges to be freed for adoption by complete strangers.If parents complain publicly they are jailed (around 200/year according to Harriet Harman) ,and more recently for sending birthday cards or waving as their children passed by in a taxi ! The UK is the only EU country with forced adoption(against the will of parents) except "possibly Portugal" according to Baroness Hale in a House of Lords case and it is time for 3 reforms to remedy these flagrant injustices.
1:- In the interests of free speech the legal GAG on parents involved in family courts must be scrapped.Parents like rape victims should be FREE to make public the details of their personal histories and experiences in the family courts if they choose to do so.Parents visiting children in care should not have their conversations censored by social workers or their contact stopped if they dare to disciuss their case.
2:-Forced adoption where parents oppose adoption in the courts) should be scrapped and all adoptions should be "open" so that birth parents know where their children are and cannot be jailed for communicating with them.Closed adoptions often mean that blameless loving parents lose track of their children for the rest of their lives because one parent may have mild learning difficulties,or be the victim of domestic violence,or quite simply being perceived likely in the future to emotionally abuse their children.FORCED ADOPTIONS AND CLOSED ADOPTIONS should be banned.
3:-A burglar facing a possible 6 months jail can demand trial by jury ,but a mother can lose her children for life without that possibility.Judges hesitate to overule social services even when they criticise them in court probably because they themselves fear subsequent criticism whilst a jury becomes anonymous after the trial and would have no such inhibitions.In any case involving long term separation of parents and children the parents should have the right to demand hearing by a jury.Juries already act in the civil courts in libel cases and would be more than capable of deciding if children should or should not remain in the care of their parents.”
by leanne fay, rochdale
Tuesday, July 27 2010, 9:46AM
“within 7months s/s had taken my babies had me in court and my last appearance in court before my final hearing the judge told my barrister to have a serious chat with me and to for me not to suffer any more upset he strongly recomended that i did not turn up on the final hearing as what s/s were appling for was being granted adoption for 2 of my babies my youngest to live with her dad and my 2 oldest to stay with me with 1 of them on a care order how could he make that decision when i had witnesses and support workers and not to mention s/s saying all along in them 7months they wanted my babies to return to me after all they asked and wanted me to i did i redecorated a 4 bedroom house on my own i never ever missed contact ever they did on many occasions,i appeared at every court date, every report they did i did my against it correcting what was wrong in theres,i did a daily diary from start to finish, and still the judge listened to what lies they told, on the grounds of neglect they said as at the time i had 3 babies under three i had 2 in the same year,and because there immunisation wasnt all done at the time my eldest toddler was 3 my next was 1and half and my youngest was 7months,1 of the phscologists said as i didint get along with my stepdad in my upbringing that im not able to put the needs of my children before my own its nothing i do on purpose she said as i was neglected in certain areas myself,also she we no and can clearly see leanne loves her children but adoption is best for the kids, the other 1 who in all the time of this we seen for 2 half hour sessions on contact when all my babies were not there and her report was that thick and that much full of lies how can they get away with this,i did turn up on my final hearing and the did what he said he was going to after i went on the stand,i wrote him a letter pleading for there return and he gave them what they wanted my babies,i wrote him a letter the judge as what he said in his finalreport was totally not true so i asked him to resit my case as s/s had,had him to believe a loads of lies i asked if could prove an explaine what he had said in his report which i new he couldnt as its not true then we would have to live with his decision,i sent it of recorded delivery to the high court in manchester and waited for his reply, whiich he did reply 3wks later saying that he couldnt resit my case but he advised me to seek legal advise on weather i could appeal,which 1 wk after that s/s wrote me a letter saying my babies had been adopted and they had to let me no by law,at that time i no now they hadnt,since then they have taken me bk to court for recovery order on mydauughter who was placed on care order which i appeared in court myself and they did not get my daughter who is 15,they do all they can for things to fail,including turning up at school,offering her contact with her bothers n sisters even though they say they,ve been adopted,try saying to her that if she was to go in foster care she,d be better off basically hounding her to get what they want again they send the police out saying she missing when the judge said that s/s are putting her more at risk trying to put her in kids home,and now i have a 5month old baby who is in temporary foster care so they say as i currently havent got a house due to my home was destroyed in house fire,they are doin nowt to help me get my own property again for the sake of my older children n my baby to be returned home like they said they wanted to happen im currently going through court again as they want adoption to happen again and instead of doin new reports assessments they say they going of old reports how can they do that,they wont set contact up with my 2 older children n the baby as they said they dont want them to get to attached and have said to my daughter before any mention of adoption that its more likely the baby will be adopted in a year anyway so whats the point of getting all upset again they hav”
by Helen, leicestershire
Friday, July 23 2010, 8:50PM
“What this newspaper has called forced adoptions actually accounts for most adoptions, many of which happen against the wishes of parents, who are known to be a risk to the child. There are very few relinquished babies in the 21st century. Forced is probably not a good word for this, rescued is probably better? The law states that family members have to be identified first, before adoptive or foster carers become the primary carers for these children, but they are often present the same risks that the parents do.”
by Alison Stevens, East Goscote
Thursday, July 22 2010, 1:55PM
“And now we have the Social Services failings into the horrendous injuries caused too baby B,and the inquiry, which the contents of, should be made public.
In this case,safety concerns and other guidelines were not followed correctly, thus a vulnerable child is let down,and becomes another statistic, the Social Workers involved have been suspended for shoddy practice.
A warning for other profeshionals in the child protection area, follow the correct guidelines or face the consequences.”
by Alison Stevens, East Goscote
Thursday, July 22 2010, 1:54PM
“And now we have the Social Services failings into the horrendous injuries caused too baby B,and the inquiry, which the contents of, should be made public.
In this case,safety concerns and other guidelines were not followed correctly, thus a vulnerable child is let down,and becomes another statistic, the Social Workers involved have been suspended for shoddy practice.
A warning for other profeshionals in the child protection area, follow the correct guidelines or face the consequences.”
by Darnthesafetynet, London W11 1NR
Thursday, July 22 2010, 8:31AM
“jj Leicester.
Wow. It would seem that in your opinion children who can't live with their parents due to child abuse issues are much better off being looked after by strangers rather than by 'the others' (extended family members and close carers) who the children are bonded with and who matter to them.
You also state that 'kinship carers' all want to be paid to look after the children.
This is a false assumption and if you are in any doubt about this, please contact me.
{We are the witnesses the people on the frontline, shocked into awareness that children who we know well are being abused and who have had NO CHOICE but to make a child abuse report to the relevant authorities. We are the 'aunties', the longterm care, the extended family members, with and without blood ties.
We have all experienced the so called child protection in practice 'process' and we have seen the ISOLATION of the children....Etc. Etc”
by jj, Leicester
Wednesday, July 21 2010, 11:32PM
“Interesting rant Alison but something is lacking in your well rehearsed regurgitation, oh yes, the CHILD of course. We can spend months and years around kinship care and all they want is money to look after their own. Adoption offers so much more care, love, safety and investment in the child. You need to be very careful, your personal case is frightening and distressing for all parents who care and love for our children. It should also be a significant learning issue for all professionals involved in protection. However to merge and entwine yourself with some of the heartless, cruel and devious parents out there is a dangerous game and considerably waters down the effects of your well manifested arguments. The Family Court in Leicester is not in meltdown, the staff and Judges are decent people who have very difficult and heart wrenching decisions. Put your efforts where they need to be Alison because you waste your time on some of the people that fail to even give their children a half decent existence.”
by Alison Stevens, East Goscote
Wednesday, July 21 2010, 11:00PM
“I am writing with concern, about the Leicester Mercury's freedom of
information request, regarding the amount of children forcibly adopted
in Leicestershire within the last five years,and the alarmingly high
statistics of 200 children.
Under the Public Law Guidelines, Local Authority's have a mandatory
obligation to consider the kincare clause, by placing children with an
immediate family member like Grandparents, before a child is ever taken
into care, but in many cases this option is ignored,and many LAs would
rather place children with foster carers, costing the taxpayers
millions of pounds, some private fostering agencies are paying their
carers up to £800 a week for each child.
The present family court arena is in meltdown.
Parents are having babies taken from them within hours of birth, on emergency protection orders, by the evidence of the so called
medical experts, who give conflicting medical evidence,of which in many
cases leads to forced adoption,and gross miscarriage of Justice.
I have been campaigning with PAIN, since our formation in 1985, at the
time of Cleveland, when well over 200 children were wrongly taken into
care, by the evidence,and misleading information given by paediatrician
Dr Marietta Higgs, who stated that all children had been sexually
abused by their parents.
Her theory was later to be discredited by other professionals.
Too late for many families that had already been torn apart,
I feel the pain, heartache and trauma, that these poor individuals endure forever.
I know because it happened to me, the day they took my child and ruined my life forever.
We were lucky the powers to be backed down,and said that his leg fracture
could of been caused accidentally, he was returned to us after twelve
agonizing weeks, and was later diagnosed with brittle bone disease.
The secrecy of the family court and care proceedings continue, parents are
denied their rights under the data protection act to see copies of
their Social Services files, of which Local Authority's have a
mandatory obligation to comply with their request within 40 days,
Public Law Guidelines are disregarded on a daily basis by Social
Workers, some of.which could of saved Baby Peter,
If the present high instigation of care proceedings continues,and common
sense doesn't prevail, there will be many more families torn apart,and
will suffer gross miscarriages of justice, by a draconian system of
court secrecy.
Alison Stevens Parents Against Injustice.
10 Greensward
East Goscote
Leicester.
LE73QW www.parentsagainstinjustice.org.uk”