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The District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw has revoked the order placing Anna’s four children in foster care, returning them to their mother’s care.

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All of the children have special needs, and one of them has a disability certificate. Their mother has been raising them alone for ten years while working full time, and she helps them with their schoolwork.

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A similar case was heard ten years ago before the same judge. At that time, too, the children were to be placed in foster care, but the Regional Court in Warsaw amended that order.

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Anna’s neighbors, coworkers, and friends have pledged concrete help with caring for the children, driving them to school, and meeting the family’s everyday needs.

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Lawyers from the Ordo Iuris Institute are representing the mother in the proceedings. Instead of foster care, the court has imposed supportive obligations on the woman under the supervision of a probation officer, while the proceedings to restrict her parental authority are still ongoing.

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The Center for Life and Family organized a fundraiser for Anna and her children. The funds raised have made it possible to pay for, among other things, vacation trips for the children and household appliances.

The District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw has revoked the order placing Anna’s four children in foster care. Anna’s case is being heard by the court’s 6th Family and Juvenile Division. The proceedings were initiated ex officio and concern the restriction of the mother’s parental authority. All of the children have special needs, and one of them has a disability certificate. The family court proceedings were opened in connection with the family’s difficulties in childcare and upbringing, in particular problems with fulfilling the compulsory schooling obligation and with organizing care for the children.

A case from ten years ago resurfaces

The case of Anna’s family was also the subject of court proceedings about ten years ago. Then, too, the court of first instance, sitting in a panel that included the same judge, issued an order placing the children in foster care. After an appeal had been filed, in the period between the first-instance and appellate proceedings, lawyers from the Ordo Iuris Institute joined the case. The order concluding the case at first instance was subsequently amended by the Regional Court in Warsaw, and the children were ultimately not placed in a care institution.

Ten years later, the ordeal has returned and the story has come full circle. The current proceedings are being conducted by the same judge who ruled in the family’s case ten years ago. She has openly expressed her disapproval of the higher court’s earlier ruling.

Order placing the children in foster care

At the first hearing, on July 16, the court heard only the mother and the family assistant. Then, despite the submission of numerous motions for evidence (including documents confirming the mother’s strong parenting skills) and the fact that the children receive ongoing psychological, educational, and medical support, it amended the interim order. As a result, it decided to place all four children in foster care designated by the Warsaw Family Assistance Center. At the time, the court pointed, among other things, to the children’s poor school attendance, taking the view that they would attend school diligently if they were placed in foster care.

Anna has been raising her children alone for about ten years. The father has been deprived of parental authority and is currently subject to a ban on contact with the children. The mother works full time, provides day-to-day care for the children, and helps them with their schoolwork, without receiving any real support from the children’s father. Her aptitude for childcare and upbringing is also evidenced by her work at a facility for minors, where she is a highly regarded caregiver and has been regularly promoted.

The principle of subsidiarity in practice

After learning of the ruling, Anna’s coworkers and neighbors also declared their willingness to continue helping the family. They also attested that Anna has strong parenting skills, that there is no violence in her home, and that the children feel safe there.

Neighbors and residents of the immediate area asked that the children be left in their mother’s care. In a signed statement, they pledged to help care for the children while Anna is at work, to support the children in fulfilling their schooling obligation, and to respond to the family’s everyday needs.

People from the woman’s professional circle also pledged their help. Her coworkers from the nursery where she works pointed out that she is responsible and hardworking and that she handles working with small children well. They declared that they could help with childcare. One of them had previously looked after the children while Anna was in the hospital with one of her sons, and she offered help with shopping and short-term childcare.

Help was also pledged by two neighbors, a woman and a man, who were to help drive the children to school; by a friend ready to help with childcare and shopping; and by Anna’s adult son, who was to help walk the children to school on certain days. It was the mother’s immediate circle, not social welfare institutions, that proved to be the family’s greatest support.

The decision to place the children outside their home was particularly painful for the mother.

Anna is receiving legal assistance from lawyers of the Ordo Iuris Institute. The mother’s counsel challenged the justification for placing the children in foster care and requested that they be left in their mother’s care, with supportive measures and the supervision of a probation officer applied at the same time.

Counsel pointed out that the mother is taking concrete steps to improve the family’s situation: she cooperates with the family assistant, arranged tutoring for the children, sought psychiatric and psychological consultations for them, and made efforts to secure appropriate schooling and care for them after the end of the summer vacation.

At the hearing on September 3, the court examined, among others, the probation officer, social workers, people supporting the family, and Anna’s friends. The witnesses’ testimony indicated that the mother cooperates with support institutions, takes action to help the children function better, and can count on the support of people in her immediate circle. The witnesses also pointed to the improvement in the family’s housing conditions and the mother’s commitment to providing the children with schooling, medical treatment, and extracurricular activities.

The court modified the interim measures

On September 3, the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw revoked the provisions of the July 16 interim order concerning the placement of the children in foster care.

In place of the revoked provisions, the court imposed specific obligations on Anna. The mother was ordered to book a private psychiatric consultation for one of her sons, to register all of the children with a child and adolescent mental health clinic, to ensure that they attend school and the after-school club every day, and to take part in online parenting workshops. The fulfillment of these obligations was placed under the supervision of a court probation officer. As a result of the modification of the interim measures, the children have remained in their mother’s care, and the decision to place them in foster care has been replaced with supportive and supervisory obligations.

The modification of the interim measures does not end the main proceedings concerning the restriction of parental authority. The main proceedings are ongoing, and the mother is fulfilling the obligations set by the court under the supervision of a probation officer.

The Center for Life and Family has also become involved in the case. Thanks to a fundraiser and the generosity of donors, it has already been possible to pay for the children’s vacation trips, medical and psychiatric care, and tutoring, as well as for the replacement of some of the household appliances. Minor renovations to the apartment and funding for private healthcare for the children are also planned, which will make it possible to speed up the diagnostic process and to better tailor the choice of schools to the children’s special needs.

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Source of cover photo: iStock