Keeping Mothers in Mind. Understanding the mental health needs of mothers who have children removed through the family courts
Funder
NIHR
Project Summary
We aim to find out how we can improve mental health care for women who have had more than one child removed from their care through the Family Courts. More timely and tailored support will enable more women to manage their mental distress and will reduce the risk of further child removals.
Background
Every year, more than 13,000 women are involved in care proceedings in England alone, and of these women, at least 1 in 4 mothers will lose multiple children from their care. Women in the North of England are more likely to appear in care proceedings. The Family Court and social care organisations are struggling to cope with the number of cases. We know from our previous research that a mother’s mental health is one of the key reasons why a child is removed through court order. Having a child or baby removed is very distressing and makes pre-existing mental health needs much worse. We don’t sufficiently understand how to best respond to the mental distress of having a child removed. The mothers live with this loss, trauma, and grief. However, the mothers rarely receive any mental health support once their child has been removed, even though experts in the Family Courts formally recommend therapy for these mothers. The lack of mental health care means that women are at risk of having another child removed from their care.
Design & Methods
We will start the study by learning from:
a) what recent research tells us and
b) from social care services about the support currently available to mothers for their mental health.
We have already interviewed 110 mothers about their experiences of having a child removed. We have also collected information from the Family Court files of 354 mothers. This means we have a great deal of unexamined material which will give us an in-depth understanding of the mental health needs of these mothers.
We are working with two organisations based in the North of England who have lived experience of child removal. The Mothers Apart - Commons Threads Collective based at WomenCentre in Kirklees, will be the Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) throughout the project.
New Beginnings, Greater Manchester is our project practice partner and will help to develop the recommendations for social care. Both organisations have been involved in developing the research and their lived experience is central throughout the whole project.
There will also be regular input from a separate policy, social care professional, and academic advisory board (PROBE).
Dissemination
We will use the findings to make recommendations to social care professionals and organisations about the support that these mothers need with their mental health. We will produce webinars, Easy Read materials, short films, reports, and articles for social care organisations to ensure that as many people as possible read the research.
Publications/Other Outputs
Morriss, L. and Broadhurst, K. (2022). Understanding the mental health needs of mothers who have had children removed through the family court: A call for action. Qualitative Social Work, 21(5), 803–808.
Research Team
Professor Karen Broadhurst and Dr Lisa Morriss are the Co-PIs for the project. Bachar Alrouh and Claire Mason are also working on the project.
External Collaborators
We are working with two organisations based in the North of England who have lived experience of child removal. The Mothers Apart - Commons Threads Collective based at WomenCentre in Kirklees, will be the Lived Experience Advisory Panel throughout the project. New Beginnings, Greater Manchester is our project practice partner and will help to develop the recommendations for social care. Both organisations have been involved in developing the research and their lived experience is central throughout the whole project.
Contact
Dr Lisa Morriss: lisa.morriss@lancaster.ac.uk
