Vulnerable Birth Mothers and Recurrent Care Proceedings

Turning Points

Stuart Bedston

Our short documentary Turning Points is now available here.

The documentary is about six birth mothers who have had children removed but have since then made significant changes in their lives such that they have gone on to keep a subsequent child.

Final project reports are now available

Anna Barnett

Click here to download our final summary report and final main report.

Broadhurst, K., & Mason, C. (2020). Child removal as the gateway to further adversity: Birth mother accounts of the immediate and enduring collateral consequences of child removal. Qualitative Social Work, 19(1), 15–37. Link

Mason, C., Taggart, D., & Broadhurst, K. (2020). Parental Non-Engagement within Child Protection Services—How Can Understandings of Complex Trauma and Epistemic Trust Help? Societies, 10(4), 93. Link

Broadhurst, K. (2019). Collaborating for the public good: Working across boundaries to inform preventive services for birth mothers who have lost children from their care. Developing Practice: The Child, Youth and Family Work Journal, (54), 62–78. Link

Broadhurst, K. and Mason, C. (2017). Birth Parents and the Collateral Consequences of Court-ordered Child Removal: Towards a Comprehensive Framework. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 31 (1), pp. 41–59. Link

Broadhurst, K. and Bedston, S. (2017). Women in recurrent care proceedings in England (2007-2016): Continuity and change in care demand over time. Family Law, 47, pp. 412–415. Link

Broadhurst, K., Alrouh, B., Yeend, E., Harwin, J., Shaw, M., Pilling, M., Mason, C. and Kershaw, S. (2015). Connecting Events in Time to Identify a Hidden Population: Birth Mothers and their Children in Recurrent Care Proceedings in England. British Journal of Social Work, 45(8), pp. 2241-2260. Link

Broadhurst, K., Shaw, M., Harwin, J., Alrouh, B., Pilling, M., Kershaw, S. and Mason, C. (2015). Vulnerable birth mothers and repeat losses of infants to public care: is targeted reproductive health care ethically defensible? The Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 37(1), pp. 84-98. Link

Shaw, M., Broadhurst, K., Harwin, J., Alrouh, B., Kershaw, S. and Mason, C. (2014). Recurrent care proceedings: Part 1: Progress in research and practice since the Family Justice Council 6th Annual Debate. Family Law, 44(9), pp. 1284-1287. Link

Harwin, J., Broadhurst, K., Kershaw, S., Shaw, M., Alrouh, B., and Mason, C. (2014). Recurrent care proceedings: Part 2: young motherhood and the role of the court. Family Law, 44(10), pp. 1439-1443. Link

Broadhurst, K. and Mason, C. (2014). Recurrent care proceedings: Part 3 – birth mothers – against the odds – turning points for women who have lost children to public care. Family Law, 44(11), pp. 1572-1576. Link

Shaw, M., Kershaw, S., Broadhurst, K., Harwin, J., Alrouh, B. and Mason, C. (2014). Recurrent Care Proceedings: Part 4: the emergence of child protection as a public health issue: how would a more prevention-oriented approach alter the provision of services and the family-professional relationship? Family Law, 44(12), pp. 1705-1708. Link

Broadhurst, K., Shaw, M., Harwin, J. and Alrouh, B. (2014). Capturing the scale and pattern of recurrent care proceedings: initial observations from a feasibility study. Family Law. Link

Broadhurst, K. and Mason, C. (2013). Maternal outcasts: raising the profile of women who are vulnerable to successive, compulsory removals of their children – a plea for preventative action, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 35(3), pp. 291–304. Link

Launch event of the final report

Stuart Bedston

This event is now fully booked.

Date: 4th October 2017, 9.30am – 4.30 pm

Location: Friends Meeting House, London

The Centre for Child and Family Justice Research are launching the final report of their Nuffield funded birth mothers and recurrent care proceedings study. Afternoon workshops led by experts in the field will consider the practice and policy implications of the particular issues raised in the findings report.