A pioneering service run by Barnardo’s Cymru has successfully halved the number of new-born babies taken into care in Newport.
The Baby and Me service supports parents-to-be who have previously lost children to the care system. By helping them to make significant changes to their lives and improve their parenting skills Barnardo’s Cymru is enabling parents to take their new-borns home safely, rather than see them taken into care by the courts.
The service, which is run in partnership with Newport City Council, has been praised following new research from the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory.
Researchers based at Lancaster University called for more such support services after revealing that across the UK, one in four mothers who have had a baby taken into care will face further removal proceedings in court. The number rises to one in three among the youngest mothers.
The new research indicates that more needs to be done to spread best practice, as national statistics remain stubbornly high regarding the risk of repeat removal of children, typically babies.
Professor Karen Broadhurst, who has led the research, has highlighted Barnardo’s Baby and Me as an excellent example of how early support for parents can effectively break the cycle. She believes all vulnerable parents should have access to similar support services, wherever they live.
She said: “Women fortunate enough to receive support can change the course of their lives. However, hard-pressed local authorities struggle to commit consistent spending to such projects.
“Baby and Me illustrates what can done where local areas make the right investment decisions, however, if we want to see national statistics for care proceedings fall in Wales, services like Baby and Me need to be available across the nation.”
Wales has the highest percentage of looked after children in the UK and numbers have risen to more than 7,000, an increase of 34% in the last 15 years. But in Newport there has been a 48% reduction in care proceedings issued at birth since Baby and Me began in 2019 and 20 fewer babies have been taken into care, compared to the two years before the service was launched.
Every baby who has gone home with their birth mother has been removed from the Child Protection Register within the first 12 months.
Parents receive wide-ranging support depending on individual need, including help accessing mental health and substance misuse services and suitable housing. They also attend group sessions where they are encouraged to learn parenting skills, bond with their baby before birth and develop a nurturing environment in the home.
Many parents who have previously been through the court system feel isolated and stigmatised. Removal of a child can trigger or worsen mental health conditions and dependence on drugs or alcohol. Grief at the loss of a child can affect mothers, their partners and wider families so having chance to meet other parents who have had similar experiences has also helped many.
Director of Barnardo’s Cymru, Sarah Crawley, said: “We believe this level of support should be available to families across Wales and would urge Welsh Government to support Baby and Me and other services helping families to stay together safely. “We need to have stable funding for such services so that innovative partnerships can be developed between the third sector and local authorities. When a child goes into care it comes at tremendous cost, both emotionally to the parents and child and financially to the State.
“Parents have told us they have often received a lack of compassion from services in the past. But if they are given trauma-informed support they are much more able to overcome their past traumas and make changes in their lives which will benefit their future children.”
The charity is calling for earlier identification of mums at risk and effective support for all who need it in areas such as health, housing and advocacy. It also wants to see better training for professionals on the impact on parents of having a child taken into care.
Annie’s story
“I was in a really bad relationship with domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse. I left it and returned, left and returned and had several similar relationships.
“I put my needs first, not caring that my kids saw how I was living. Social services got involved because of the numerous domestic abuse calls and my children were removed.
“My social worker advised me to work with Baby and Me because I was pregnant with my youngest, but I didn’t want to speak to anyone. Emma, my Barnardo’s worker, would come to the house and I wouldn’t answer the door, but she persisted and one day I just thought I was going to have to sort things out or I would lose another baby and that is life changing.
“My main emotion at the time was anger, but that first call with Emma gave me a whole new outlook. Joining Baby and Me has helped me learn skills to deal with my emotions and challenging situations so I don’t feel angry all the time. I started to change and I haven’t used drugs or alcohol for two years.
“If I’ve had tricky circumstances I’ve been able to ask for help. So for instance, when I had a meeting with social services Laura from Baby and Me came along with me for support. When I’ve had a bad day, they were there for me. They’ve helped me massively through different courses.
“I’ve always found social services scary but Baby and Me aren’t, they want me to achieve my goals in life. They’ve helped me build relationships with my social worker and be honest so they can work with me.
“Baby and Me tell us to become the parents we would want our children (who are in care) to find. I knew that if I dealt with the drugs and alcohol I would be a better person. Now I have my daughter home with me, and I have a brilliant relationship with my older two. It’s Baby and Me that has done that.”
Name has been changed