CYP(3) PAP 25
Children and Young People Committee
Inquiry into Parenting Action Plan
Response From Mencap Cymru/Wales
This response is submitted by Advocacy Action Wales and Mencap Cymru on the proposed children and young people committee inquiry into the Parenting Action Plan.
Mencap Cymru and Advocacy Action Wales believe that in many instances, if given the right support, children can live with their birth parents. We also acknowledge however, that in other instances this is not appropriate.
Studies have conclusively shown that children have a better start in life when they grow up in the family home. To give children the best possible start in life we believe it is imperative that more appropriate safeguards and support mechanisms are put in place to allow more children to live at home with their parents where this is possible.
How effective do you consider the implementation of the Parenting Action Plan to have been?
A lot of the action points in the PAP have only been partially completed, and in some instances, not completed at all.
One particular issue we find inappropriate is that the guide for parents, entitled "Wider Family Matters: a Guide for Family and Friends Raising Children Who Cannot Live with Their Parents”, is not, in our opinion, in an accessible format. For parents with learning disabilities this provides a huge barrier to advice on support when trying to raise their children.
Has the amount of support available to parents increased?
In some areas more services are available to some parents which is commendable. However there is still a massive shortfall in the amount of support provided to parents with a learning disability. The problem is two-fold for parents with a learning disability whose children also have learning disabilities. There is a lack of support available for the child and a lack of support for the parents to access this support.
Is support accessible to all parents?
Services are very rarely provided to parents universally. Support is usually targeted to those who are seen as being the most disadvantaged geographically or socially. Support to parents with learning disabilities is usually provided by organisations that focus on learning disability issues or work with individuals with a learning disability (for example, Mencap Cymru and Advocacy Action Wales) rather than receiving targeted support specifically about or with their parenting skills. Even when support is available it is often not called upon until a crisis point is reached (this is particularly the case with advocacy services) whereas an earlier intervention might prevent an escalation of problems, and so lead to much more positive results. Parents with a learning disability might also face a host of additional barriers such as inaccessible information, and a lack of learning disability awareness training for services staff: in many cases parents also do not have the capacity to attend meetings that would benefit them due to both childcare and transport barriers. Often specialist organisations such as Advocacy Action Wales would have to provide such support (see Case Studies attached) in these areas, since mainstream services are either not available or not appropriate.
Are you aware of barriers experienced by parents in accessing support services and information sources? What are the key reasons for these barriers?
The barriers faced by parents with a learning disability can vary depending on geographical location, support from family/friends, age of their children and gender. Social stigma is a large barrier as parents who access support can often feel that they are being labelled as a 'bad parent’ by needing help to raise their children. More needs to be done to tackle this problem faced by parents with a learning disability. Accessibility is another huge barrier parents with learning disabilities face due to information not being presented to them in a format they can understand. Jargon and 'legal speak’ is another barrier that often can deter them from attending meetings or engaging with mainstream support services.
Can you provide any examples of innovative practice in ensuring that services and information is accessible, and barriers can be overcome?
Continued Work on Parenting
What do you consider to be the key parenting issues still needing to be addressed by the Welsh Assembly Government?
Far greater action needs to be taken to put support mechanisms into place to allow, where possible, parents with a learning disability to raise their children at home. As previously stated, all of the evidence shows that children perform better later in life when they have been brought up in the family home. More support mechanisms, such as those demonstrated by Advocacy Action Wales in the case studies attached, need to be put into place to ensure that no child falls through the cracks and is un-necessarily taken away from their parents.
What has worked and what hasn’t?
Examples of Good Practice
Areas of the PAP successfully implemented
There is no evidence that the Parenting Action Plan has had a significant positive impact on parents with learning disabilities.
Areas of the PAP not successfully implemented
Please see answers throughout
Additional Comments and Research
The Current Situation: The Norah Fry institute at Bristol University has clear evidence that parents with learning disabilities are a lot more likely than other parents to have their children taken from them permanently.
The current perception of parents with learning disabilities is drawn from commonly held and negative stereotypes. A lot of staff in social services do not fully understand what impact a learning disability has on individual parents’ lives. The Norah Fry institute also concludes that some social services staff have too high an expectation on what parents should be like, leaving many being left to reach a far too high benchmark. Sometimes parents with learning disabilities will have become disengaged with the services as they have had experiences that have left them feeling staff had a negative view of them and their parenting.
Issue: Parents with learning disabilities are not being offered appropriate support to parent. According to the latest major report on these issues ('Finding the Right Support’ Tarleton et al 2006), 50% of parents with learning disabilities can have their children taken from them by the courts. Although there are no absolute figures on the number of parents with learning disabilities, the first national survey of adults with learning disabilities in England found that one in 15 of the 2,898 adults interviewed had children (Emerson et al, 2005).
Advocacy: Advocates working for Advocacy Action Wales have found that over the last 4 years the number of parents with learning difficulties being referred has increased substantially (specific figures can be taken from monitoring info). Referrals are often made when the parent is in crisis, with child protection procedures having been enacted, and so the referrals have to be responded to immediately: this means that other referrals slip down the priority list, so affecting other potential service users.
Some researchers have described the child protection system as something that 'systematically abuses’ parents with learning disabilities (Booth 1998a, Booth 1998b). The problems in the system include parents’ lack of understanding of the system, that parents with learning difficulties may be judged by stricter criteria than other parents and that the evidence used against them may not be the same as that used against other parents. An evaluation of 2 advocacy services (Tarleton 2006) found the role of the advocate to be of paramount importance in ensuring that the voices of parents with learning difficulties are heard within the child protection system. The evaluation found that where an advocate who specialized in supporting parents was present, parents were treated with more respect by professionals involved in child protection procedures. Parents felt that they were listened to more with an advocate and professionals were more 'careful’ about how they spoke about and to them. Tarleton also found there is a clear need for increased, ongoing, funding for advocacy services to support parents with learning difficulties, especially when involved in child protection and judicial processes.
Working Together: Professionals working with parents with learning disabilities come from a wide range of health, social care and voluntary organizations; each of these will have their own protocols, guidelines and standards. It is important that there is clarity and consistency when working with people with learning disabilities, with concrete and open ways of working so that they have a chance to understand what is expected of them.
Helen Prior
Simon Stranks
Director- Advocacy Action Wales
Campaigns Officer- Mencap Cymru
References
'Finding the Right Support?’ B. Tarleton, L. Ward, J. Howarth, Baring Foundation 2006
Booth, T. & Booth, W. (1998a) Advocacy for parents with learning difficulties:
developing advocacy support, York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Booth, T. & Booth, W. (1998b) Growing up with parents who have learning difficulties, London,
Routledge
Parents who have a learning disability: case example
A has a learning disability and limited literacy skills.
She has received an advocacy service regarding her involvement in child protection procedures for approximately nine months. Initially, A’s child was accommodated by the local authority and placed upon the child protection register. A’s child has recently been returned to her mother’s care and her name has been removed from the child protection register
Support has included;
Support when attending core group meetings, LAC reviews and case conferences.
Support in smaller meetings with adult services, children’s services and the child’s school.
Close liaison with all professionals involved to assist in effective multi agency working.
Explanation of her rights and responsibilities.
Support to understand written correspondence and in depth reports.
Provision of information and discussion to enable A to make informed decisions.
Sourcing appropriate legal representation.
Support to make complaints.
Support and reassurance to develop confidence when dealing with social services and conveying her needs and wishes.
Advocating on her behalf and emotional support during times of distress.
Advocating and supporting self advocacy when professionals have not realised agreed actions.
Parents who have a learning disability: case example 2
This case is example is anonymised to maintain confidentiality.
S is a young woman with a learning disability and mental health issues. S was referred to Advocacy Action Wales by her solicitor, as requested by the court in respect of childcare proceedings involving her 3 month old baby. The child had been accommodated by the local authority.
S was initially reluctant to accept advocacy support but now has developed trust and engages with her advocate regularly. S has been reluctant to engage with other professionals involved, such as her own social worker and children’s services.
Advocacy involvement has included-
Support to attend case conferences, reviews, court attendance
Support to develop organisational skills, and direct support for appointments as directed by court.
Explanation of written material/correspondence
Advocating on S’s behalf regarding registration with a GP on refusal to accept.
Sourcing and supplying S with information regarding support groups
Liaising closely with Children’s services, adult services, solicitors, health professionals, mental health support worker.
Ongoing explanation of childcare proceedings and the role of professionals involved
Regular telephone and person- person emotional support during times of distress
Regular discussion/provision of information to assist S in making informed choices
Parents who have a learning disability: case example 3
No names are used in this case example in order to maintain client confidentiality.
R is a young woman with a learning disability. R was referred to Advocacy Action Wales by her solicitor, as requested by the court in respect of childcare proceedings involving her 2 month old baby. The child had been accommodated by the local authority.
Over time R has developed a trusting professional relationship with her advocate; she has a good understanding of their role and engages with her advocate on a weekly basis.
Advocacy support has included
Support to attend case conferences, reviews, support at court appearances
Support to improve organisational skills, and direct support for appointments as directed by court.
Explanation of written material/correspondence
Identifying and providing R with information regarding support groups
Liaising closely with Children’s services, adult services, solicitors, health professionals, support workers.
Ongoing explanation of childcare proceedings and the role of professionals involved
Regular telephone and person- person emotional support during times of distress
Regular discussion and provision of information to assist R in making informed choices
Parents who have a learning disability: case example 4
This closes the referral for the initial issue was daughter was taken into in to foster care on advice of LA. Needs support to ensure she understands court proceedings, and is fully assisted to work with LA. has no housing and is technically homeless. She wants her baby back to live with her and her boyfriend in her own flat or house.Had received an eviction notice to quit her flat, she had worked as a cleaner for a short time in had not been paid and her benefits had stopped.
The outcome for the first issue is that moved into her own flat with her boyfriend, her daughter is now living with her sister under a special guardianship order.
The outcome for the 2nd issue is that was evicted from her flat and is not contactable by phone; she stated that she was to live with her mother, but doesn’t appear to be living there.
And her boyfriend were able to secure private rental accommodation with the support of They initially engaged well with the local authority children’s team, but found it hard to maintain their motivation was able to instruct her solicitor with my support, and understand the court proceedings and her boyfriend were not able to maintain their relationship with their daughter, due to them not engaging with the local authority, they did recommend that sister be full time carer for her daughter, the local authority accepted this, assessments were positive and her daughter was placed with them under a special guardianship order. The court case is still ongoing.
Initially engaged consistently well with myself and other services, I was able to offer advocacy support including:
Referring her to social services for social worker support from learning disability team
Booking appointments with GP, nurse, solicitor etc
Looking through local authority letters reports, ensuring that she understood them
Preparing for and support at LAC reviews, transporting her to and from reviews
Preparing for and support at solicitors appointments, transporting her to and from appointments
Preparing for and support at county court dates, transport
Visiting court in preparation for court dates, sourcing and sharing information on what to wear how to act in court etc
Working through court documents, reviewing court process and recommendations ensuring she understood them
Contacting and reminding her about appointments, meetings etc
Supporting in attending contact sessions
Observing during a parenting assessment session
Obtaining and sharing information on , a parent and child assessment unit
Liaising with CN to encourage referral to psychology counselling service
To understand the roles of others offering her services
Explaining consequences of all of their choices
