Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 3 July 2019.
I fully support your policy and the direction it's going, I think the issue is that filtering down, because, on the ground level, children seem to be taken into care far too easily. So, my question is: how can we empower parents? Could we create a professional advocacy service for parents? Because there seems to be a blanket thing called avoiding future emotional harm, and child after child after child is being taken into care, put up for adoption. I'm trying to support one mother at this moment whose life has been ruined by her interaction with children's services. And she took the step of aborting her unborn child to avoid it being taken into care, and that whole family is devastated. What strikes me, with case after case after case, is the complete lack of rights and the complete lack of empowerment. And if you're a parent who's been through the care system yourself, then you are treated in an appalling manner sometimes. So, how can we empower parents?