Families in poverty must have a voice

Poor families must be involved in evaluating  policies intended
to combat child poverty, says a new  a report from human rights
organisation ATD Fourth World.

The success of child poverty policies is “always
compromised” because it is difficult for people in poverty to
take a full and active role, says the report. More effort should be
made to find ways of allowing a constructive discussion to take
place between people in poverty and others who are fighting against
poverty and social exclusion.

The report also states that children in care are often from
disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. This link between poverty
and intervention by child protection services was found to be
common to all the member states of the European Union.

The report suggests that when children and parents are separated
for child protection reasons, parents should be given support to
help them resume their role in bringing up their children. However
it found that many professionals did not think returning children
to their family was realistic.

The report was published to coincide with Universal
Children’s Day on November 20.

Valuing Children, Valuing Parents from
http://www.atd-quartmonde.org/europe/valuingchildren/Vcvp_08_04.pdf