A neglect epidemic

Posted by Francesca on Oct 20, 2013 in Blog | 0 comments This is a true story. It’s a story of how everything is connected and why we need to think about the way we look after our kids. You want to know how adults screw up then read this. A couple of months ago, late in the evening I was watching TV. Our new house overlooks the park. Like a lot of houses in London it’s the ‘good’ real estate opposite the council flats. I had...
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One baby adored. Too many ignored.

Posted by Francesca on Jul 22, 2013 in Blog | 1 comment Today the royal baby is apparently stirring. He or she has already been showered with speculation and interest.  Not just the name but the identity of the  godparents, role of William’s mother in law, clothing, schooling, parenting, nannying and much more is effectively stifling most other news this Monday morning. In Worcester a few days ago a doorbell rang. The occupants of the house opened it...
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For the traumatised child, love is simply not enough.

Posted by Francesca on Jul 2, 2013 in Blog | 0 comments Time and again the simplistic utterings of the Cameron government invite my despair and bemusement at the same time. Cameron and co’s whole act is based on pronouncements about ‘fixing things’ that they have identified as broken. This has been their rationalel for many of their inhumane policies towards people on benefits and this same philosophy governs their rather naive...
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Why blood isn’t thicker than adoption

Posted by Francesca on Jun 20, 2013 in Blog | 1 comment My husband and I are the parents of adopted children. We are their real parents because we are the only ones they have. We know their seasons, we know when it’s bad, we know when it’s good, we know when they are not themselves. How is this possible? When we’d just adopted our first child, Gaia, the question was “Do you know anything about her ‘real mum’?” Now we...
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Foster kids are not even second class citizens. They’re pawns

Posted by Francesca on Jun 11, 2013 in Blog | 0 comments One of the core issues for ABW is the way children are dealt with in the foster system. Now, even if you know nothing about the care system, does it make sense to you to throw a vulnerable child of 16 out on their own into a world, they are not prepared for? This is what happens to a high proportion of the 6,000 young people who leave care annually.  Instead of easing into early adulthood and...
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2 million kids lost in the system. Meanwhile adults make useless laws

Posted by Francesca on May 28, 2013 in Blog | 0 comments That’s just South Africa. Imagine that: 2 million kids without a hope unless there is a miracle intervention. Because that’s what it will take. And it’s a story that’s repeated worldwide. We have always wondered what is meant by children’s rights since those bodies and laws that purport to give them often do very little to advance the causes of kids. Take the Hague Convention for...
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