The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) has warned that family courts and custody arrangements can increase distress for children.
The ISPCC’s Childhood Support Service experienced a huge demand and worked with 439 children throughout 2015.
One of the primary reasons for referral to the service was issues arising for children as a result of parental separation, with the processes surrounding this emerging as a source of anxiety for children.
The system of mediation, the courts process and legal process and the lack of the voice of the child in this system were all issues which came through in the service’s one to-one work with children.
ISPCC Chief Executive Grainia Long stated: “As the national child protection charity, we monitor carefully the issues that arise for children accessing our support services. Among many other issues affecting children accessing our services – including early sexualisation, drugs and alcohol, bullying and cyber safety – a growing concern for our childhood support workers is the impact on children of issues arising from parental separation. While relationship breakdown is difficult on everyone, there are ways in which changes to the legal system could reduce the impact on children.
“The family courts system, custody and access processes and even mediation process are not child-centered, the voice of the child is often not heard in these situations and children’s emotional well-being can be affected. There is no early stage intervention, and so referrals often occur late in the process when cases are at extreme stages. There is a clear need to address the deficiencies in process, in the support systems available and in the courts systems that do not enable the voice of the child to be heard in these situations.”
“The legislation arising from the Children’s Rights referendum is now in place, the first step in protecting and promoting children in the legal process – we now urgently need practical supports to give effect to the constitutional rights of children, such as ensuring that their wishes and best interests are given the constitutional priority now enshrined in Article 42A.
“Our central goal in our support services is to increase the child’s psychological resilience so they can cope with any issues they encounter. Issues in children’s lives such as bullying, parental separation etc. can upset a child’s world; we help them to pick up the pieces and support them with putting them back together again.”
In reviewing 2015, among its other successes, the charity pointed to the amendment to the Irish Constitution to enact the changes agreed by the Irish people in the Children’s Referendum and the recognition by the Oireachtas of their work to end corporal punishment – the amendment to outlaw the defence of reasonable chastisement was the culmination of years of campaign work. The ISPCC also supported a change to the law to enable same sex couples to marry and successfully campaigned for a ‘Yes’ vote.
Grainia Long thanked all those who support the work of the organisation:“The ISPCC would like to thank the public for their ongoing support for these services throughout the previous year. We are extremely grateful for this support and as you can see from our annual report, we couldn’t function without the generosity of the public.
“As for the year ahead, we are focused on new and emerging risks to children; on ensuring the State meets its obligations to children who are homeless – ensuring physical and management standards in emergency accommodation. We will continue to press the Government to improve the lives of children in Direct Provision and focus attention on Traveller children, particularly in terms of their housing and education.”
Launching its Annual Report 2015, the children’s charity noted that there are a range of issues affecting children who are referred to its Childhood Support Service, including early sexualisation, drugs and alcohol, bullying and cyber safety.
However, one of the main reasons for referral is parental separation. According to ISPCC chief executive, Grainia Long, the impact of separation on children has become ‘a growing concern for our childhood support workers’.
“While relationship breakdown is difficult on everyone, there are ways in which changes to the legal system could reduce the impact on children.
“The family courts system, custody and access processes and even mediation process are not child-centered, the voice of the child is often not heard in these situations and children’s emotional wellbeing can be affected,” she explained.
She pointed out that there is no early-stage intervention, therefore referrals to the Childhood Support Service often occur late when cases are already at the extreme stage.
“There is a clear need to address the deficiencies in process, in the support systems available and in the courts systems that do not enable the voice of the child to be heard in these situations,” Ms Long said
She noted that the ISPCC’s main goal in relation to its support services is to ‘increase the child’s psychological resilience so that they can cope with any issues they encounter’.
“Issues in children’s lives such as bullying and parental separation can upset a child’s world. We help them to pick up the pieces and support them with putting them back together again,” she said.
Meanwhile, the report also showed that the ISPCC’s Childline service answered 421,672 calls to its phone service in 2015 and took part in 18,305 conversations on its Childline online service.
