NewsBite

SA Indigenous family misled by Department for Child Protection before siblings removed until adulthood

An Indigenous family says the child protection authorities gave them two weeks to claim three siblings before unexpectedly placing them with a non-Indigenous man.

The grandmother and primary carer of three Indigenous siblings said she wanted children back with their mother before she died in January 2022. Picture: Supplied
The grandmother and primary carer of three Indigenous siblings said she wanted children back with their mother before she died in January 2022. Picture: Supplied

Bloods relatives of three Indigenous siblings claim child protection authorities “misled” them into believing that they were in the process of getting the children back before all three were removed until they turned 18.

An aunt of the siblings who are all under the age of seven, has been applying to become the children’s long-term carer since they were removed in January this year, after their primary carer and grandmother died suddenly.

In case notes by the Department for Child Protection (DCP), obtained by the Advertiser, before she died, the grandmother told the DCP that she supported the children being placed back in the care of their mother.

An Indigenous family has claimed that they were not consulted at all before the Department for Child Protection placed three siblings in the permanent care of a non-Indigenous man. Picture: Supplied
An Indigenous family has claimed that they were not consulted at all before the Department for Child Protection placed three siblings in the permanent care of a non-Indigenous man. Picture: Supplied

“I am happy if they go back to mum, but I am also happy to have them long term with me,” the case notes read.

“The children are asking for mum. They are becoming more aware of what is happening around them.”

At the time of her death, the grandmother was in a de facto relationship with a non-Indigenous man of three years, who the DCP gave full custody to without consulting blood relatives.

The two weeks in between her death and burial, the aunt said the family had been corresponding with the DCP under the pretence that they were getting the children back, but claimed a caseworker misled them by going back on her word.

“At first, the family were given two weeks to come forward to get the kids after mum’s passing, is what she (caseworker) told us,” the aunt told the Advertiser.

“But I followed her up about it, she turned around and said ‘no, I didn’t say those things, and what I meant was, you had two weeks from when they were removed from their mother’.

The children were removed from their mother in 2018, after she suffered from postnatal depression and started abusing marijuana and alcohol.

However, according to case notes by the family’s caseworker, the DCP was still “assessing reunification” in mid-2019.

Following their removal in 2018, the aunt said the DCP made it a requirement that the mother see a Departmental psychologist in Adelaide and end her relationship with the children’s father, which she did.

In case notes seen by the Advertiser, the mother’s psychologist said she was improving each day and that she “would support reunification”.

Other records and notes from the psychologist showed the mother had been clean of drugs and was continuously passing weekly drug testing.

However, after the mother compiled and passed all her assessments by the DCP, the children were still removed.

The Advertiser/7NEWS Adelaide: SA’s lightning show, AFL Magic Round location revealed

“They made her jump through all these hoops for no reason and still took the children,” the aunt said.

“We’ve got three missing pieces to our puzzle and we need to put it back together and move on with our lives.”

In South Australia, if an Indigenous child or young person is to be placed in state care under the Children’s and Young People (Safety) Act, the child should, if reasonably possible, be placed with a member of the child or young person’s family.

Questions sent to the DCP by The Advertiser asked if the Department had been misled about its representative working with the family to get the children back in the care of blood-relatives.

Under the DCP’s policy, the principles of Family Led Decision Making for Aboriginal families, blood relatives are to be included in all decisions when a placement is being arranged for children.

In response to the Advertiser’s questions, the DCP said it was “committed to working with the children’s extended family to ensure the children remain strongly connected to their family, community, country and culture.”

The Advertiser contacted the primary carer for comment.

Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-indigenous-family-misled-by-department-for-child-protection-before-siblings-removed-until-adulthood/news-story/6075cf308784829e5ea90599e5c2b7bc