If these parents don’t want to care for their kids, take them away | Caleb Bond

If these parents don’t want to care for kids, just take them away for everyone’s sake, writes Caleb Bond.

How many children must die or be horrifically mistreated before the authorities wake up and take children away from dysfunctional homes?

It is a decade since we were shocked by the death of little Chloe Valentine.

In the years after, we grew even more shocked as an inquest revealed the extent of how bad her four short years were.

It heard how she died in a rat and bug infested home and that her mother, Ashlee Polkinghorne, believed she was a better mum when she was on drugs.

We all know how it ended. She died with horrific injuries – 39 in total – after falling off a motorbike she was forced to ride over three days as her parents filmed and laughed.

Families SA – as it was then – wrote in Polkinghorne’s care plan that she could use drugs as long as a “sober adult” was caring for Chloe at the time.

Chloe Valentine.

The authorities had been alerted to Chloe’s situation more than 20 times during her life, yet she was never removed from her parents. Workers needed gloves and masks to clean homes from which Polkinghorne had been evicted – yet she was allowed to keep her daughter. And what was learnt from that? Not much, apparently.

There are two ongoing major investigations into possible criminal neglect after the deaths of Makai Wanganeen and Charlie Nowland in recent months.

Megan Somerville was this week charged with the attempted murder of her two kids after allegedly stabbing them on the roadside, heroically stopped by a passer by.

Her sister, Jessica Somerville, said there had been multiple reports to police and the Child Protection Department (DCP) before the alleged stabbings, but nothing was done.

Dennise Shepherd Thursday told the heartbreaking story of learning her grandson allegedly had horrific burns and meth in his urine through the newspaper. Again, it was a case where DCP had been involved.

The foster system is not perfect. Far from it.

But without commenting on the specific cases currently before the courts, leaving any child in a home where they are clearly at risk is not an option.

The authorities fail defenceless children far too often. I don’t care how big the workload or how many cases there are, there is no excuse.

These are only the alleged cases we know about. There would be hundreds, if not thousands, more children who scrape by on the skin of their teeth. Abuse begets abuse – and so the cycle continues.

If parents won’t look after their children, then they need someone else to do it. The mob charged with making sure this happens – the DCP – fails at its most basic function.

Because of that, children are dying and being horrifically abused. What chance do they have?

We owe it to these kids to make sure it never happens again.