SA foster care inquiry hears children ‘forced’ to visit with abusive parents

Terrified children are being forced to visit with the parents who abused them, causing enormous trauma. Read the troubling cases here.

Children who have been removed from unsafe parents are being forced into visits with them, including when parents are drunk, verbally abusive or fail to show up, an inquiry has found.

Reported incidents include children “screaming in fear when approached” by a relative and returning from access visits “dehydrated, sunburnt, wearing unchanged nappies and unfed”.

The cases are outlined in a report that found carers believe the Child Protection Department is “prioritising the wishes of biological parents over the wishes of the children”.

This happened “even when there were reported safety issues present during birth parent access”.

Report author and child protection expert Dr Fiona Arney received more than 200 submissions, including from carers who said their foster children were “sent to access visits with family members they are scared of, where they are left in unsafe environments and their needs are neglected”.

A “common theme” among submissions to the inquiry, which was commissioned by the state government, was that children exhibited distressing changes in their behaviour around access visits “including screaming, biting, headbutting or experiencing night terrors or significant distress (eg. vomiting, crying)”.

Dr Arney also heard of children “forced to attend regular access visits, which are consistently rescheduled or the birth parents don’t attend” or they “appear uninterested when they do attend”.

The Child Protection Department removes children who are abused or neglected by their birth parents.

They can maintain contact with their families through in-person visits, phone calls or letters, and for many this is a positive experience.

However, it can be traumatic for some children and their carers say they can take days or weeks to recover.

As one carer told The Advertiser: “They hear the voice of a person who didn’t keep them safe and their body reacts”.

Department acting deputy chief executive Sue Macdonald said “a comprehensive assessment” was done and the views of children, carers and family considered when making contact arrangements.

Safety was “a paramount consideration in decision-making”, she said.

“When a child experiences significant emotional distress or behavioural dysregulation as a result of contact, care teams may make changes to visitation including, potentially, pausing visits for a period of time,” Ms Macdonald said.

Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard said she was setting up a new carer council to consult on improvements to the system.