The seven children recently found living in squalid conditions with their mother, who is unable to meet their needs, will be placed with relatives and cared for with support from the Child Care & Protection Agency (CC&PA).
Director of the CC&PA Ann Greene told Sunday Stabroek that the mother’s relatives do not wish for the children to be placed in state care and have offered to take care of them.
The children’s grandmother and other relatives live in front of the unfinished concrete structure where the 36-year-old mother and her children lived, with only sand for flooring and no windows.
Greene explained that the agency will continue to monitor the family and assistance would be given to the woman’s relatives to take care of the children. She explained that following a family conference, an aunt of the children expressed the willingness to take care of them, including ensuring that they attend school.
According to Greene, under the foster care programme, there is provision for biological fostering and it is under this programme that the relatives would receive assistance. Greene again reiterated that the agency is never keen on putting children in state care because it would include the children being separated.
Additionally, Greene said the agency would work with the children’s mother and the process has already started in having her join
the substance-abuse programme
at the Georgetown Hospital. She
is also being taken to a family-planning clinic.
When Sunday Stabroek had visited the home, twin babies were found lying in a dingy children’s playpen dressed only in dirty jerseys improvised as napkins. The mother had admitted that she could not cope but said she was building a house a short distance away. However, the unfinished shack was crudely built with dirty old boards.
The mother is cohabitating with the father of her three youngest children and he is also believed to be an alcoholic. The man has not made himself available to the agency but Greene said he is already in their system. She said the man is a known alcoholic, who already has children in the system. She said one of the girls has since aged out and has married and is now living independently, while two other children are in state care.
The agency was alerted to the plight of the children by this newspaper following its visit. The visit by this newspaper was prompted by a call from a concerned professional who had seen the mother and one of her children. After questioning the woman and based on the fact that she reeked of alcohol early in the morning, the professional became concerned and visited the home. She was appalled at the conditions under which the children were living. After offering initial assistance and even attempting to secure a house for the family, she realised the family needed an intervention. Following the publication of the woman’s plight, the professional has since indicated her willingness along with that of her staff to continue to support the children in whatever form necessary because she wants the children to be given a chance.
