Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 21/Dec 10:07

Protecting – or prolonging trauma?

In TT, the child-protection system is managed by the Children’s Authority. When a child is deemed to be in imminent danger, the authority is empowered to intervene. This intervention can include removing a child from their home, parents or guardians. Some children are placed with another family member or in temporary foster care, a children’s home or the authority’s safe house. The system was meant to safeguard children who find themselves in an unfortunate position where they are at risk in their own home. The system was meant to focus on reintegrating the family unit, through active, holistic intervention and counselling. In practice, however, the system struggles with gaps which leave both children and families caught in cycles of confusion, trauma and delay. The authority’s mandate When the Children’s Authority takes a child into its care, it assumes significant legal duties. These duties are extensively outlined under the Children’s Authority Act and associated regulations. The law requires the authority to bring the child’s case before the court immediately, adhere to deadlines, and advocate for the child’s best interest as the matter progresses. The law also requires the authority to place the child in a secure environment – whether a community residence, foster home or other designated safe space – and ensure that basic needs are met. Where necessary, it must also do assessments to determine the level of danger the child was facing, the suitability of parents/guardians and make the needed recommendations, ensuring they can be properly and effectively implemented. The ultimate aim is always reintegration, ensuring the child can return to a safe and stable environment. Where the system falls short While the duties are clear, their practical execution is oppressed by systemic challenges that undermine both child-protection and family rights. Families frequently complain that the removal process occurs decisively and urgently, but once the child is in the authority’s care, momentum stalls. Assessments that should take days can take months. One of the most common complaints from parents is the lack of transparent, consistent communication. They often do not receive accurate information, timely updates about their child’s location or a clear explanation of the process. As a result they often find themselves in limbo, struggling to navigate the process to reunite their families. This leaves families feeling more confused, further straining already fragile situations. A system designed to protect, intervene and assist has turned into a system viewed as bureaucratic in nature. Since it was set up in 2015, the authority has long faced staffing shortages, unprecedented high caseloads, overwhelmed community residences and limited foster families. Children are sometimes placed in environments no better than the ones they left. While they are meant to be a safe haven, alternative placements become overcrowded, lack adequate supervision and may not have specialised staff for children with behavioural or developmental needs. A child removed from danger may find themselves exposed to new forms of instability and sometimes exposed to behaviours they previously knew nothing about. Although counselling is mandated, the delivery often falls short. The cost: a child lost in the system In the middle of the chaos is an important character in the story – the child – who falls through the cracks and suffers, not because case workers do not care, but because the system is structurally overextended. For a child and a family in this situation, time moves differently. Three months in limbo can feel like an eternity. Even when reintegration is the goal, the steps are often unclear or poorly monitored. Parents may be told to attend counselling, parenting classes or other interventions, but there are inadequate follow-ups and guidance. The lack of structured support makes reintegration a shifting goalpost, so parents struggle to score. Behind every file number is a child navigating fear after removal, the loss of home, school and community, confusion, guilt, anxiety and instability. Children require stability and consistency. Yet the system responsible for providing that stability often introduces more turbulence. The bigger question parents have now asked is: does the authority protect, or prolong harm? While removal is a last resort, once done, the authority assumes responsibility not only for the child’s care but also the investigation, the care plan, placement and implementing recommendations. A call for practical reform TT needs a serious overhaul of the child protection system, focusing on main areas of improvements, if the authority is to achieve what it was meant to do when it was. The vision in 2015 needs to shift back into the spotlight. Children deserve more than reaction – they deserve protection, care, structure, consistency and hope. Until the Children’s Authority’s practical everyday operations match its legal mandate, far too many children will slip through the gaps, and too many families will be left suffering quietly. Denelle Singh is an attorney at law The post Protecting – or prolonging trauma? appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.