A baby arrived at Sofie’s home at 7pm on a Friday with clothes, toys, nappies, and food, and had not been fed since that morning. Sofie, an early childhood educator, did not know the baby well and had only provided brief cuddles. Her workplace had agreed to enrol the baby after child protection sought stability while working with the baby’s mother. The baby had attended only a handful of days. Less than four hours earlier, Sofie received a call from child protection asking whether someone could look after the baby for the weekend. Sofie believed there was confusion, but the request was confirmed after the centre’s owner spoke with the worker. The court had removed the baby due to risk and needed a foster or kinship carer, with the expectation of only a couple of days, but the placement continued for more than six months.
"The baby arrived at Sofie's house at 7pm on a Friday night, along with a few bags of clothes, toys, nappies and food. No one had fed her since that morning. The case worker sat on Sofie's couch, commenting on the decor. Sofie*, an early childhood educator, did not know the baby well. The Melbourne childcare centre where she worked had agreed to enrol the then months' old baby after a request from child protection, who hoped daycare would provide some stability while they worked with the baby's mother."
"The voice on the line was a child protection worker. Would someone there be able to look after baby Lily* for the weekend? I said, no, we are not working here Saturday and Sunday', Sofie says. And she said, no, no one of you. We are at the court and the judge is asking us to look for somebody.' Sofie is an effervescent 49-year-old born in South America. She is confident and thorough, but English is her second language, and she thought something must have been lost in translation."
"But when the centre's owner and manager returned soon afterwards and spoke to the child protection worker, she confirmed the request. It's now been more than six months since that call. And Sofie still isn't sure how much longer Lily will stay with her The court had decided the baby was too much at risk and had just that morning been removed from her mother. They needed to find a foster or kinship carer. There was no one else, they said and it would just be for a couple of days, to give them some time to sort things out."
"My heart was breaking, Sofie says. I started crying. I called my husband and I was emotional he said, It's a big responsibility, b"
#child-protection #foster-care #kinship-care #childcare-and-early-education #court-ordered-placement
Read at www.theguardian.com
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