The family relationship is not terminated just because a child is taken out of a family and is now cared for by a legal guardian, foster family or carers in a child care institution. If your child has been separated from the family, your interest in having your family reunited is protected by the human right to family life.
Support for a child’s return to their family
While the child is in out-of-family care, the competent municipal institutions, such as the Orphan’s Court, provide educational and social support for the parents in order to promote family reunification. At the same time the foster parents, legal guardian or child care institution should encourage the renewal of family ties between the child and his/her parents.
example Ensuring that parents can exercise the right to access their child during the period of separation from the family plays a crucial role. This is so because the possibility of reunification would eventually disappear if the parents and their children were not allowed to meet each other sufficiently often.
Reassessment and return to the family
The authorities are obliged to periodically re-examine the particular family’s situation to see whether there have been any improvements. Depending on which authority took the decision, you may request a court of general jurisdiction (civil court) or the Orphan’s Court to reassess the situation if the circumstances have changed. The relevant authority will decide whether the child should be returned to the family.
As a general principle, a child should be returned to the family as soon as possible, if:
- the reasons for the child’s separation from the family have disappeared and the family can ensure favourable conditions for the child’s development in future
example If a parent has previously suffered from serious addiction and failed to take sufficient care of the child because of that, the situation can be reassessed if the parent has successfully undergone the necessary rehabilitation. In such a case, whether conditions have changed and the parent has shown an ability and determination to care for the child will be evaluated.
- family reunification is in the child’s best interests
It is usually in the child’s interests that the family should be “reconstituted” in due course. However, when a considerable period of time has passed since the child was placed in care, the child may have developed a close relationship with his/her foster family and/or legal guardian. In such situations, it may be in his/her best interests not to interrupt the new relations and to ensure the stability of the current family situation.