It seems
quite reasonable to have children removed from dangerous circumstances, which
have been attributed to parental mental illness. Numerous studies have revealed
that such an environment can correlate to child abuse and neglect. It hinges on
the premise that a parent who isn’t mentally stable enough to look after
himself or herself, may exhibit outrageous and harmful tendencies that could
impact negatively on their child.
And
while in a lot of cases this may certainly be the case, in other instances,
children are being taken away from secure homes based on an unfair rationale
that goes under the banner of “parental mental illness”.
“I was
removed from a safe environment at home with my mom where I wasn’t abused or
neglected to a situation where I was very much unsafe,” said Clement.
It all began
one night when Clement was 14-years-old and received a phone call from a
teacher whilst he was home alone. Following this, the teacher made a report to
the authorities, which claimed that Clement was being neglected by his mother.
The days and
weeks that followed descended into hell for Clement and his mother. When the
investigation was finally concluded, no evidence was found to indicate that any
abuse had occurred. The case was, however, taken to court where it was argued
that his mother, who had a past history of bipolar disorder, was not mentally
fit to have Clement in her custody.
Within a
short space of time, Clement's entire world unravelled
before his eyes; he was snatched from his happy home, and placed into
a foster care system that caused a lot of psychological and emotional trauma.
As soon as he turned 18-years-old, Clement signed himself out of the foster
care system.
A
watchdog report revealed
that the Administration of Children’s Services had misused and breached
policies in family courts, and wrongfully removed children from their families
in many similar cases such as Clement’s.
The harrowing
reality is that some states view parental mental illness such as anxiety or
depression, as a reason to take a child away. As a result, more and more
parents avoid seeking out the mental health services that they may need, due to
their worry that it may spell a visit from social services.
I knew a girl
who, after giving birth to her first child, battled through postnatal
depression. As a young and single mother, there was no doubt that she felt an
insurmountable amount of pressure to be the best mother that she could be.
When I asked
her why she did not want to seek out help for her postnatal depression or ask
for further assistance in any area that she was struggling in, she said simply:
“I can’t risk
social services thinking that I might even have a day where I feel sad or
overwhelmed. They have the authority to turn up at my house and take my baby
away–and it would mean that I would love everything.”
It may appear
ludicrous that women in her position are unable to get the support that they
need from a government whom they have paid taxes to–taxes which should be
redistributed back to them in such times. Yet, her concerns were not completely
unfounded.
Healthy Place states
that custody loss rates for parental mental illness range as high as
70-80 per cent, and a higher proportion of parents with serious mental
illnesses lose custody of their children than parents without mental
illness.
