«I do not consider it appropriate and I distance myself from those who on a professional level have taken sides for and against the choice to place the children of the Trevallion-Birmingham family in protection: the word “removal” – decontextualized and exploited – is misleading. Nobody, except the social services who have been following the situation for some time and the magistrates who made the decision in chambers, know the situation in detail». The social worker Francesca Maciresearcher and professor of social work at the University of Parma, as well as honorary judge, analyzes the polluted climate surrounding the story of the family unit that lived isolated in a farmhouse in the woods of Palmoli (Chieti) with 3 children between 6 and 8 years old, for whom the Juvenile Court of L’Aquila ordered temporary placement in a family home in Vasto, where the mother looks after them. The judges’ decision came following “technical evaluations and objective elements”, states the order.
«Taking sides as supporters for or against social services, the judiciary, parents, is not good first and foremost for children, because in this media debate – which can only be superficial and distorted without a limited knowledge of the matter – the focus is mainly on adults “expropriated” of their parental responsibility, losing sight of the well-being of children”, remarks Professor Maci, member of the scientific committee of the International Center for Family Studies. Which points out: «Profoundly questioning institutions such as the Juvenile Court – whose decisions are always weighed and taken following an in-depth investigation into the family situation, the social and relational life of children and parents – it means dismantling citizens’ trust in institutions that represent a guarantee of democracy. With the concern that vulnerable and struggling families do not turn to social services because they are conditioned by negative and irresponsible comments.” Not only that: «When politics exploits such complex situations and expresses itself in propagandistic ways, before having understood and studied documents and facts, it does nothing but disavow social services and courts, bodies of the State itself: a contradiction».
But in cases similar to the “family in the woods”, what are the steps taken by the institutions? «We start from the attempt of social services to make adults recognize the growth needs of children, trying to offer support for parenting and protection/care for minors, to protect the bond between children and parents by trying to respond first and foremost to the needs/rights of the children». A complex and detailed process: «When services become aware of a situation of neglect of children’s growth needs, they try to increase parents’ ability to become aware of their children’s developmental needs and rights. An accompaniment and support process is started, for example with home educational meetings and parenting support interviews, verifying the school, health, housing but also emotional and general well-being situation. Various social opportunities are also offered and other specialist supports are evaluated”, explains the expert.
The family home in Vasto that hosts Catherine Birmingham with her three children
(HANDLE)
Therefore “the first mandate of social services is to support and accompany the family to help develop positive parenting, recognizing the needs and rights of children so that they can have a path of growth and development of the best possible quality, the aim of the Leps Pippi (Intervention program to prevent institutionalisation), promoted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies in support of vulnerable parenting”. If the project works, «also involving the school and the social-community context to which it belongs, breaking the conditions of isolation in which families often live, a report will not necessarily be made to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Juvenile Court. It only happens when parents have not acquired awareness or shown collaboration». At this point «the Prosecutor’s Office requests a summary investigation from social services to verify the living conditions of the minors and the quality of the parental relationship; if he finds that there is a situation that is detrimental to his children, he will appeal to the Juvenile Court.”
In turn, the Court “requests a more in-depth investigation from the services to understand the family situation and what type of response the parents gave to the proposals of the social services, verifying the physical-psychological and social well-being situation of the children, inviting them to continue the process of accompaniment and support of the family”. A hearing is then scheduled at the Court: «The parents are heard by the judge on their choiceson the relationship with children (always listened to after the age of 12 but also before, if it is deemed necessary and appropriate, without creating discomfort and difficulties for them)”. From this investigation emerges “a psychosocial or socio-family investigation with a solid basis of objectivity, not of personal opinions or interpretations of the individual professional or judge”.
After this complex itinerary, «the Court issues a provision for the protection, guardianship/care of minors and support/help for parents. Social services are asked to identify a personalized plan to achieve a balance good enough for the children: we are not looking for perfect parents. Furthermore, the decisions of the Court are collegial, taken in chambers by 2 professional magistrates and 2 honorary judges appointed for their specific skills: social workers, psychologists, lawyers, paediatricians, pedagogues…”. Only in some cases «is protection achieved through reception in a mother-child, family, educational or other family community context. The first decree is always provisional, it can be modified and stabilized, with great attention on the part of the Court to work towards family reunification: an attempt is made to preserve the bond between parents and children through meetings, sometimes in a protected space observed by specialized professionals. We work to give the child the opportunity to grow up in their own family. If there are problems, a temporary separation occurs but – hopefully – not a definitive one.”
