High levels of contact between birth parents and babies in
concurrent planning placements should be discouraged due to the
stress it causes the babies, finds research by children's charity
Coram.
Concurrent planning reduces disruption for children in care by
placing them with foster carers who have been approved to adopt if
the child cannot return to its birth parents.
Research for Coram by Jenny Kenrick, a child psychotherapist at
the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, found frequent
contact with birth parents disrupted babies' routines.
The study, which examined the impact of contact on babies
under 10 months, also found that they became distressed when
separated from their carers.
As a result, Coram is calling on family courts and local
authorities to take a "flexible" approach to the frequency and
timing of contact.
“We are committed to the importance of supporting and
maintaining continuing contact for babies and their birth families
during care proceedings. But in the light of this research we
believe courts and local authorities should re-evaluate the impact
this may have on emotionally fragile babies that need stability,"
said Jeanne Kaniuk, head of adoption at Coram.
"The timing and frequency of contact should be carefully
considered in individual cases to ensure that the parents maintain
their relationship with the baby and can demonstrate their capacity
to parent their child, which is essential for the court assessment,
whilst also ensuring that the babies’ needs for stability and
routine are respected," she added.
Kenrick stressed the importance of considering both the short
and long-term impact of "intensive contact" on infants, after the
study found that infants who experienced difficulties in
concurrency placements found it more difficult to establish
routines or start playgroups and school.
"The children are always the most vulnerable in the triad of
birth parent, carer and child in contact. An infant is particularly
vulnerable and is at the most crucial stage in its emotional and
neurological development," Kenrick said.
She said her recent study - which will appear in the January
2010 edition of Adoption and Fostering - presents an
opportunity to consider some of these infants' needs and "how any
findings may be extrapolated to the needs of infants in contact in
the general care population".
In the white paper
Care Matters: Time for Change, the Department for
Children, Schools and Families said it wanted to see greater use of
concurrent planning.
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