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| Monday, 01 May 2006 10:24 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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Children whose parents are addicted to drugs could be taken into care under tough new protection rules due to be unveiled by ministers this month.
The Scottish Executive said it would publish details of child protection reforms “within the next three weeks”, and Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, yesterday confirmed that social workers would be told to take more vulnerable children into care.
Ms Jamieson said the Hidden Harm plan marked a “sea change” in policy. However, opposition politicians last night accused ministers of a “knee-jerk” reaction to high profile cases.
In January, a Glasgow heroin addict’s 11-year-old daughter collapsed in class after taking the drug. A few weeks later it emerged that toddler Derek Alexander Doran had died after drinking methadone at his home in East Lothian.
Ms Jamieson said social workers had long assumed home was the best place for vulnerable children.
"We will be telling them that assumption is no longer correct," she said. "We will be saying, 'Never mind the rights of parents. It's the rights of the children that matter most.'
"If that means taking children out of chaotic households, then that is what should happen."
It was reported yesterday that the Hidden Harm plans would be unveiled by First Minister Jack McConnell and Ms Jamieson after they were backed by Liberal Democrat coalition colleagues.
Mr McConnell said: "If there is chaotic drug use in a household, then social workers must do what is best for the child, not the parents."
It is believed that the document will tell social workers to intervene much more quickly in future to protect the welfare of any child living with drug-addicted parents. It will also demand that they communicate better after discovering a child living with addicts.
It is estimated that 60,000 children in Scotland live with drug-addicts – almost one in 15 of all under-16s.
Fiona Hyslop, Scottish National Party spokeswoman on children and young people, accused the Executive of being too slow to address the problem.
"They have come late to this issue. Concerns about children living with drug-abusing families were flagged up by a parliamentary committee as long ago as 2001," she said.
"The sheer volume of cases cannot be underestimated. While not all children living with drug-addicted parents are at immediate risk, there is a serious issue with the huge shortage of foster places. There are also fewer residential places than before."
She said child protection was Scotland's "cinderella" service, with the Executive failing to provide enough money to meet the demands on local councils.
"I think the Executive's response is more of a knee jerk than something that has been thoroughly thought through," she added.
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