Every child has the right to a safe, secure and loving home. However, this can’t always happen. The number of children entering care each year remains at a record high, and a significant number of these children are removed from parents who have previously had a child a removed into care.
Facts and figures
Data on the number of families who experience multiple child removals is not collected, but research shows:
- One in five care proceedings are recurrent proceedings;
- Almost half (47%) of all newborns subject to care proceedings are born to mothers who had previously gone through care proceedings with an older sibling;
- 1 in 4 women who have a child removed from their care are at risk of returning to court, with younger mothers and care leavers at greater risk; and
- Recurrent removals are linked to complex difficulties such as domestic abuse, substance misuse, and adverse childhood experiences – 40% of the women working with Pause are care-experienced themselves.
The devastating cycle of recurrent removals
Once a child has been removed from a woman’s care, the system is structured so that the services and support follow the child. There is no requirement or expectation that the support needs formally identified for the woman during the process will be provided after the removal of a child. This leaves her struggling to cope with her existing difficulties while facing the additional trauma of losing a child. The trauma of each removal compounds and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities, contributing to a vicious and damaging cycle, and a worsening outlook for the woman and their children.
Without support after a child is removed, families can become stuck in a devastating cycle of repeat pregnancies, care proceedings and removals.
The impact of recurrent removals
Recurrent removals are traumatic for children and families, impacting their wellbeing and outcomes over the course of their lives and contributing to rising health and social care costs:
- Recurrent removals contribute to the record high levels of children entering care and the £4.4 billion increase in local government spending on children’s social care over the last decade;
- Recurrent care proceedings cost an estimated £240 million – in addition to the significant ongoing costs associated with a child’s care and wider social and financial costs associated with removing a child; and
- Our data shows that women who experience recurrent removals are 14 times more likely to die prematurely than the general population, highlighting their vulnerability and need for support.
Despite this, more than half of local areas across the UK do not offer post-removal support.
“I have four children in care of family members. For my eldest two, I never received any aftercare [after they were removed] and I started drinking and self-harming and went down a dark road. Then I had my third child and, again I had no aftercare, so again I started drinking and went back down the dark road. Then I had my fourth child and this time I’ve had aftercare from Pause. They really helped me stay off that dark road” – Woman working with Pause
We know that the cycle of recurrent removals can be prevented.
Pause was founded in 2013 by professionals with frontline experience in child protection, family law and supporting vulnerable adults. They despaired at seeing women with complex needs have a child taken into care, become pregnant again and have further children removed, with little ever being done to break this cycle.
Since then, Pause has grown to become the largest provider of post-removal support to women across England.
After more than ten years of programme delivery, there is a growing body of evidence which demonstrates that Pause is highly effective. We have shown that it is possible – with an intensive, relationships-based approach – to support women caught in the traumatic cycle of recurrent removals to create and sustain long-term change.
Take a look at our Mission and Impact page for more information about what we have achieved.
