New measures have been introduced to maintain family cohesion

British mother takes care of her fifth child after losing custody 4

• Some parents undergo training to prepare them for custody of their children.

  archival

• Loss of child custody is common in Wales.

  archival

picture

Ceres gave birth to four children, but was never allowed to take care of her children, causing her to lose the will to live.

The British mother suffered a mixture of strained relationships and poor mental health after her four children were taken from her to be brought up in government care.

Ceres' case is familiar in Wales, where the state looks after one in 44 children in some cities.

This number is the highest in the UK, where the number of children in government care has increased every year since 2010. It is also believed to be one of the highest in the world.

Today, Ceres is sitting on a sofa with her husband and smiling young son.

It's her fifth child, with her at home.

There are several reasons why Wales has a bad reputation, while many consider it, in Britain, the capital of the government care in the United Kingdom.

Nine years ago, the rate of children in care there was the highest in the country, at one in 56, and the way child protection was handled was considered a "grave concern".

Now the number has almost halved to one of 98. South Wales, where Ceres and her family live, has changed some measures, giving parents a chance to prove they can take on the task of caring.

And the way things have turned out could serve as a model for social services across Britain.

Rather than trying to eliminate the risks by taking more children into government care, members of the social services team were reduced workloads and encouraged to work more intensively with families.

Half job vacancy

In 2012, half of the social worker positions were vacant, and the reliance on the rest of the agency's workers was heavy.

Today, service has improved, while the average number of child care cases has fallen, from 16 per social worker to 10. Measures taken to keep families together include round-the-clock supervision, seeking help from experienced parents, vacation rentals and even a laundry service.

When Ceres became pregnant last year, social workers were contacted immediately, and she assumed her history of strained relationships with social services and poor mental health would affect her.

Instead, she and her husband, Allen, were told they had a chance to keep their child.

Both were given extensive training to deal with physical and sexual abuse of children.

They joined parenting classes and proved that they do not do drugs or alcohol.

Having given birth to Ceres, at the beginning of this year;

Instead of deciding the stakes were beyond repair, the local authority arranged for the couple to bring their son home, with a period of around-the-clock professional supervision.

The task was intense and expensive, but after six weeks they proved themselves reliable.

Six months later, the boy was in their "full-time" care.

"When the social worker first visited us, we said, 'No, she's not going to let us have the baby,'" Serres said.

A glimmer of hope

For mothers like Ceres, the Social Services Agency's new approach provides a glimmer of hope for her and other mothers. "I remember when I put my baby in the car seat, and I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going to take him home,'" she says. "I was given a chance, and this was It is what I want.”

Keri Warren is among those credited with making the change in how the problem of child custody is managed in Wales.

Warren, 55, who has run children's services for the past three years, has learned a lot doing her job on the front lines of the local council.

She was among the top social workers, brought in nine years ago to turn things around.

• In 2012, half of the social workers' positions were vacant, and the reliance on the rest of the agency's workers was heavy.

Currently, service has improved, while the average number of childcare cases has decreased, from 16 per social worker to 10.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news