ALECOMM

Domestic Violence Overload on Foster Care

Details

Category: Foster Care

Created: Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:13

Written by Alecomm

There is currently an enormous amount of children being removed from their homes because of domestic violence.  However there is no such evidence that the mother has ever harmed a hair on their child so why is the Department of Community Services putting these children into foster care, with a life sentence on them until they are eighteen years of age?

What happens when these children are taken from their families is that DOCs then seek authorisation from the Childrens Courts to have Parental Care of the child until they are eighteen years of age, and once they (easily) obtain this status, they give the mothers no more than 6 x 2 hour visits with their children each year --- FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS.

Some of these innocent victims are babies and are taken direct from the hospital ward without even a chance for their maternal bonding with their mother and their father.  They are denied thier right to breastmilk, and all reports done over many years constantly prove time and time again that children denied of these necessities ARE BRAINDAMAGED, and have long term problems.

These problems are caused directly by staff of the Department of Community Services and other child protection agencies in various states of Australia.

These children are taken without warning and without one bit of help being provided to the mother to make her home safe and get the abuser out of the picture.  The mother may have even called upon the police for assistance many times and have Apprehended Violence Orders placed on the perpetrator but the system seems not to care about these women, and instead of protecting them from their abuser - they simply take thier children.  How disgusting.

 If Community Services are prepared to take a child where the mother has requested intervention in her domestic violence situation then not only do the laws insist that they be protected but so the human rights acts that govern out country also.  So why does this not happen?

For those of you unaware the Minister Linda Burney made a media presentation about how Women Can Safety Stay At Home and Leave Domestic Violence in December last year.  The program Staying Home Leaving Domestic Violence has been on the go for quite a few years now and gets considerable funding, so why aren't community services making use of these programs and instead chosing to ruin the lives of the women whom have already suffered so much, but destroying children also?

Wouldn't it also be a considerable amount less on wasted government resources to deal with the offender and ensure the mother and child are provided a safe lifestyle then to put a child into fostercare in anycase?

Alecomm is currently compiling a database in which will take information of cases where women from domestic violence situations have had their children removed, whom have never harmed their childen, where they were never offered any sort of protection let alone assistance from Department of Community Services or any such programme as the Staying Home Leaving Domestic Violence programm which has been in action since 2005.

It is currently under construction, so please be patient.  We urge all women who have had children removed under these circumstances to provide your details so the government can be made aware of your situation, and start rectifying its mistakes in that you have not been provided with these available services.

You can also find out more information on Staying Home Leaving Violence Program by clicking here.