Depression

I love this video and the book. It explains depression so simply and yet effectively. Both domestic violence and family breakdown can result in depression. You are likely to get sleep problems as well  If you recognise any of the symptoms in the video please get help. If you had a physical health problem you would.

Children especially those in the care system can also suffer from depression.

Welfare Check List . A quick guide

The Welfare Check list - section 1 Children Act 1989
When a court considers any question relating to the upbringing of a child under the Children Act 1989 it must have regard to the welfare check list set out in Section 1 of that Act. Among the things the court must consider are:
a) The ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in light of his age and understanding);
b) His physical, emotional and/or educational needs;
c) The likely effect on him of any change in his circumstances;
d) His age, sex, background and any characteristics of his, which the court considers relevant;
e) Any harm which he has suffered or is at risk of suffering;
f) How capable each of his parents and any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant, is of meeting his needs;
g) The range of powers available to the court under the Children Act 1989 in the proceedings in question.
For all proceedings under the Children Act 1989 when the court considers a question of the child's upbringing the child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration.
 The most important consideration is your child’s welfare. This is about trying to decide, sometimes in difficult circumstances, what is in your child’s best interests.
The law makes it clear that the court must only make an order if doing that is better for your child than making no order at all.
The court must also avoid any delay, where possible. It is generally agreed that delaying a decision is not usually good for children and can sometimes cause them harm. The court should take account of any impact their timetable might have on your child’s welfare and development. 

Other Considerations

Your child’s wishes and feelings
This does not mean that the court will do whatever your child says they want. But if your child is old enough to understand the questions they are asked and the court (with the help of a Family Court Advisor if necessary ) can find out what they think, then it will consider their wishes. The court will want to know that your child’s wishes and feelings are their own and have not been influenced by either of their parents or other relatives. The court will pay more attention to the wishes and feelings of a child the older they are.  Increasingly, the court may want to meet your child, or get a letter from them giving their views. The President of the Family Division said in  Annual Dinner of the Family Law Bar Association on Friday 27 February 2015 at the Middle Temple that children need to be more visible in the family justice system . Given this hopefully  even more account will be given to children's views in future.

 http://www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_comment/the-president-s-address-at-the-annual-dinner-of-the-family-law-bar-association#.VPRMAHysVPc

Your child’s physical, emotional and educational needs 

This includes your child’s need for  non conditional love and affection. Are the children attending and thriving at school or nursery? Do they have a reasonable mixed diet? Is their home safe and clean? Do they have opportunities to socialise with their peers or are they isolated. It also includes things that can affect your child’s emotional well being. So if, for example, your proposals involve separating one child from siblings, the court will consider how this will impact on their emotional needs. If you and your ex argue  in front of your children, that will be taken into account
The likely effect of any change in circumstances on your child
Change can be disruptive for children so the court will want to think about the effect on your child of any change you are suggesting, for example, in where they live or who they live or spend time with. Does the benefit of any change outweigh any possible negative effects?

The age, sex, background and any relevant characteristics of your childsuch as  any cultural, religious or language needs as well as any disabilities.

Weight needs to be given to the long term welfare of a child's sense of who they are and how they fit in to a particular community.

Any harm your child has suffered or is at risk of suffering

Harm can mean ill treatment or damage to your child’s health or development, the impact caused by them seeing or hearing domestic violence or abuse or by preventing contact without a good reason. Any drug ,gambling or alcohol addiction and the consequent impact on the children. Do you have needs yourself , that impact on your ability to parent? Do you require support over mental health issues for instance?
How capable you and the child’s other parent are of meeting your child’s needs. Do you have a support network ?
Do you have the skills to look after your child and meet their needs?
Are you an emotionally mature individual who can put your child's needs above your own? That could mean can you put the ill feelings about the other parent to one side.
This is not an exact guide but hopefully provides food for thought. The most important guideline is that the welfare of the child comes first so if you can put yourself and your understandable pain on the back burner it will assist your case in court.

Who benefits from the "care" system

The cost of care in monetary terms anyway

Why do Children's Services not support families in need instead of pushing them through the care system?
"It costs too much"  to provide support is the old chestnut trotted out time again. So I thought I would have a dig around and see how much it actually costs to keep a child in care.

D. Cost of service provision

In the 2013/14 financial year an estimated £2.5 billion (gross expenditure) was spent on the main looked after children’s services in England. The majority of expenditure (55%) was on foster care services (around £1.4 billion, 55%) and children’s homes (around £0.9 billion, 36%). Table 4 shows the gross expenditure on the main looked after children’s services since 2000/01. Both the total expenditure and the cost per looked after child increased year- on-year until 2011/12. The changes in 2012/13 and 2013/14 should not be deemed conclusive since these figures are still provisional estimates.
Source Children in Care in England Statistics:2014

What it actually means 

The 2013/14 estimate  was that 905 millions would be spent on children's homes,1,377.3 millions on fostering services and 205.4 millions on other children looked after services.
The estimated average cost per looked after child was £36,524

Now I may be naive but even if each family had say 15 hours support a week at a cost of £8.40 per hour plus of course administration costs  so perhaps round it up to £10 per hour. Lets throw in some family therapy once a week at about £90 per session. So total cost £240 per week =£12480 a year.

I am aware that other families may have other needs that could be more complicated and therefore more expensive. However most families have more than one child taken into care so it could easily be not £36,524 per year but £73048 for two children and so on.
When the child leaves the "care" system is not the end of the story either they are far more likely to have mental health problems, an offending history...

So who is benefiting from the care system?