childcare-50years

Recommendations

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3 Adoption (NI) Order 1987 however gave effect to a number of the recommendations, including: • the introduction, for the first time, of a statutory duty on HSS Boards to provide an adoption service; • prohibition of independent or 'third party' placements of children with non-relatives. All placements were to be made through an adoption agency; • the introduction of a freeing order for children - either with or without the agreement of parents - through which parental rights could be transferred by the court to an adoption agency; • adoption placements arranged by voluntary adoption societies should no longer be subject to HSS Board approval and the welfare supervision of the child prior to the granting of an adoption order should be undertaken by the placing agency; • the mandatory appointment of a guardian ad litem and reporting officer in all adoption and freeing order cases; and • on reaching the age of majority an adopted person should have access to his/her birth records. It is noteworthy that the Black Committee, after much deliberation, also recommended that Section 5 (1) of the 1967 Adoption Act, which provided for the welfare of the child to be the paramount consideration in dispensing with parental consent, should be deleted. This was based on interpretations of the 1967 European Convention on the Adoption of Children, referred to above. The Committee commented that 'in Northern Ireland, there have been very few cases in recent years involving dispensation of consent, hence there is little evidence available as to the merits or demerits of the paramountcy principle'. Had the Committee been reviewing the present day situation in adoption, its members might have come to a different conclusion. 50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 52
3 The Black Committee recommended that the legislation should provide that in deciding any course of action in relation to the adoption of a child 'a court or adoption agency shall have regard to all the circumstances, full consideration being given to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child throughout his childhood'. The 1987 Adoption Order, however, closely followed Section 3 of the 1975 Children Act in England and Wales by providing that the court shall 'regard the welfare of the child as the most important consideration' but in contested cases the court must then go on to consider whether the statutory criteria can be met for dispensing with parental consent. The 1987 Adoption Order was implemented in 1989 in conjunction with the Adoption Agency Regulations (NI) 1989. The regulations required, inter alia, the establishment by each adoption agency of a panel of experts (which has come to be known as an Adoption Panel), to make recommendations to the Agency about the suitability of children to be adopted, the suitability of applicants as adoptive parents and the proposed placement of children with prospective adoptive families. The social context 1968 -1988 In the first half of this period, adoptions in Northern Ireland reached unprecedented numbers. In 1970, there were 554 adoption orders granted. In the late 1970s, however, there was growing concern about the numbers of children languishing in care for want of effective planning. The 'Children who Wait' study in England (Rowe and Lambert, 1973) showed that whilst some children could have rejoined their parents, others required a long-term alternative. At about this time the idea of 'permanency planning' was sweeping into the United Kingdom from the USA. The number of adoptions of children in care in Northern Ireland, however remained very low, bolstered by occasional adoptions of children by their foster carers. The 18 years from 1970 saw a gradual fall in the numbers of adoptions to 270 in 1988. During this period the percentage of 'stranger' adoptions as a proportion of all adoptions also fell. The 50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 53
Page 1:
50 A Better Future 40 30 20 10 Depa
Page 5 and 6: PREFACE There is both an acceptance
Page 7: Finally, I am indebted to Mr Selwoo
Page 10 and 11: 1 decisions, taken in the late 1940
Page 12 and 13: 1 1946 which resulted in the Childr
Page 14 and 15: 1 recognition of the effect of the
Page 17 and 18: Chapter FOSTER CARE 2 Background an
Page 19 and 20: 2 adequacy of the supply of foster
Page 21 and 22: 2 residential care to children wher
Page 23 and 24: Both these issues were addressed in
Page 25 and 26: 2 "On balance and taking into accou
Page 27 and 28: 2 Numbers of children fostered and
Page 29 and 30: 2 Safeguarding children in foster c
Page 31 and 32: 2 Prior to the adoption of the Nati
Page 33 and 34: 2 • encourages partnership workin
Page 35 and 36: 2 "The most important general issue
Page 37 and 38: 2 The main achievements in foster c
Page 39: 2 The Human Rights Act 1998, also b
Page 42 and 43: 3 Adoption of Children Act (NI) 192
Page 44 and 45: The social context to 1947 3 Povert
Page 46 and 47: The management and structure of ado
Page 48 and 49: 3 cent were under 2 years. Third pa
Page 50 and 51: 3 baby boy: the child's mother did
Page 52 and 53: 3 The management and structure of a
Page 56 and 57: 3 figures available show that in 19
Page 58 and 59: 3 situations, Catholic lists remain
Page 60 and 61: 3 The Adoption Allowances Regulatio
Page 62 and 63: 3 population) had been freed or wer
Page 64 and 65: 3 Table 4 - Number of children adop
Page 66 and 67: 3 could be assured within the law t
Page 68 and 69: adoption. In the near future, few p
Page 70 and 71: 3 The post placement and post adopt
Page 72 and 73: 3 professional responsibility for s
Page 74 and 75: 3 Church of Ireland Adoption Societ
Page 76 and 77: 3 • the establishment of speciali
Page 78 and 79: 4 During the 1950s the main concern
Page 80 and 81: 4 • every attempt was to be made
Page 82 and 83: 4 failed, however, to anticipate th
Page 84 and 85: 4 "Boards should seek to reduce the
Page 86 and 87: 4 taken to ensure that these childr
Page 88 and 89: 4 Practice, however, soon establish
Page 90 and 91: 4 • the need for a complaints pro
Page 92 and 93: 4 Kincora, as early as 1967, there
Page 94 and 95: 4 • there were social, economic a
Page 96 and 97: 4 Table 7 - Number of children in c
Page 98 and 99: 4 The Child Welfare Council Report
Page 100 and 101: 4 within homes as a consequence of
Page 102 and 103: 4 The past 50 years have, therefore
Page 104 and 105:
4 The devolved administration, the
Page 107 and 108:
Chapter 5 JUVENILE OFFENDING Develo
Page 109 and 110:
5 • the view that imprisonment wa
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5 the order did not appear as a cri
Page 113 and 114:
5 Having commenced with a small gro
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5 The decline in numbers of young p
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5 considerably, juvenile liaison bu
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5 years the percentage of cases giv
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3. Working with young offenders req
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5 remanded or placed in a secure un
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Chapter DISABLED CHILDREN Introduct
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6 In the absence of a full and read
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6 in Northern Ireland designed to p
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6 are known are receiving either ca
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6 other conditions. This became the
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6 cent of children who fell within
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6 Sixteen percent of parents said t
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6 The treatment of handicapping con
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6 Nursing Team) and the Children's
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6 The 1950 Children and Young Perso
Page 145 and 146:
6 them) her young siblings made a j
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6 Legislation and the development o
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6 based homes and hostels. Some chi
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6 The Children Order was implemente
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6 In an ever-changing social contex
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Chapter 7 CHILD PROTECTION Origins
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7 the 1908 Act did not allow such a
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7 under the supervision of a probat
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7 Boards to set up registers on chi
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7 supposed satanic abuse in the Ork
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7 can be uncomfortable to the profe
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7 Work like this is not given much
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7 Alongside these educational progr
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7 the responsibility of one agency
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Chapter SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION & TRA
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8 basic qualification in social wor
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8 proposed a two year generic socia
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8 in Residential Care for Children
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8 CCETSW's report "Care for Tomorro
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• high expectations are placed on
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8 people that are involved across a
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8 7. Since the 1990s there has been
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9 Because our society is in the pro
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9 specific commitment to improve co
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9 who wish to work in the care serv
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9 establish a contract with SCIE to
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BIBLIOGRAPHY • ‘Adoption of Chi
Page 201 and 202:
• Department of Health, ‘Adopti
Page 203 and 204:
• O’Halloran, K. ‘Adoption La
Page 205 and 206:
• Tresiliotis, J. Shireman, J. an
Page 208:
ISBN 0-946932-07-7 Published by: De
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