Karen Broadhurst from Lancaster University has released new research into recurrent care proceedings, the findings of which embody the motivation behind the Pause programme.
The research underpins what we at Pause could already see happening, anecdotally, in relation to many of the women we work with. Professor Broadhurst has found that 13,248 babies were subject to care proceedings at birth or soon after between 2007 and 2014. Nearly 50% of these were linked to repeat removals and when the woman is a teenager, this becomes a 1 in 3 chance.
Louise was one of those women. She had two children removed before the age of 22, and is a care leaver herself. Louise is now engaging really positively with Pause Doncaster, one of the seven Pause sites, who support her to overcome challenges, develop new skills and make positive changes in her life.
On Monday 14 December, Louise had the chance to share her experience on Radio 4’s Today programme. The interview, conducted by Sanchia Berg, gave Louise the chance to provide a narrative of her experiences, and relayed the impact Pause is having on her life now, and express her hopes for the future.
Louise is just one of the hundreds of women Pause identified as having had multiple numbers of children removed from their care. Professor Broadhurst’s work highlights the vital importance of intervening at the earliest possible opportunity to prevent young people and women like Louise being caught in this destructive cycle, and to prevent children being born into circumstances where there is a need for them to be removed into care.
Professor Broadhurst’s research has been covered extensively in the media, and you can listen again to the Today programme here.