Mother agreed to temporarily give up children to keep them safe; soon to be reunited

The Child Care Board (CCB) has denied taking two toddlers away from their homeless mother, insisting that 29-year-old Danae Gibbons consented to having them removed from an environment that she deemed unsafe.

During a press conference on Thursday where it was announced that provisions had been made for Gibbons and her two children to be reunited and provided with accommodation in a few days, Acting Director of the CCB Colin St Hill said Gibbons’ situation highlighted the need for more Barbadians to come forward to be foster parents.

Seeking to set the record straight about the CCB’s involvement in the case that has attracted media attention over the last two days, St Hill said that the state agency received a report about a mother and two children at the old Treasury Building on Monday, but when childcare officers visited the area, they did not see Gibson and her young ones.

Police were contacted to assist with locating the mother, but they were unsuccessful.

However, St Hill said that the following day, CCB was informed that Gibson was at the shelter operated by the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH) at Spry Street, The City, and a team, including police officers, were sent to the location to investigate.

He said the CCB officials spoke to Gibson in the presence of the police and she agreed that the shelter was not the right environment for the children since they were exposed to homeless people, some of whom might have mental health issues.

“As a result, we would have spoken to the mother about the situation, and she would have voluntarily agreed that the children could come temporarily into the homes of the Child Care Board. We normally have a parental agreement form, which was explained to her, and she readily signed in the presence of the police officers. Arrangements would have been made for the mother to visit the children when it was convenient for her to see the children,” St Hill explained.

“We all discussed this, and once we saw the mother in a position where she could adequately provide care and housing for her children, it is a situation in which the Child Care Board would allow those children to return to the mother. It is not a situation in which the mother was being accused of being abusive to the children or neglecting the children.”

Gibbons had lamented in another section of the media that her children had been taken and she said she needed to find a job and a home so she could get them back.

St Hill told members of the media at the CCB’s Cheapside, Bridgetown headquarters that the Board was not in the business of removing children for unjustified reasons.

While making it clear that the CCB has the authority to remove children from dangerous environments, the Acting Director insisted that, generally, the agency worked hard to keep children out of residential care.

“Our residential homes are the very last resort. We do not want to place children in our residential homes. We only do that when we recognise that the children will be at risk. And given the situation where those children were said to be located during the day, I think we all recognise that they could be at serious risk given that location, given the personnel that would be around that area. And, therefore, we thought it best to give that mother the opportunity to work on situations so she could get her house in order,” St Hill said.

He added that the Board was currently in search of foster parents to assist with the temporary care of children to avoid them being placed in residential care.

“Just like how we have to do an assessment of each case, we have to do an assessment of a person who applies to be a foster parent, and once they meet the necessary criteria that we have in place and they are approved as a foster parent, they can assist in situations like these. So, rather than having to go to a group home, they could go into a smaller home, which is a person’s home,” the CCB official explained.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Jehu Wiltshire announced that the state had found temporary accommodations for Gibson who will move into the home with her children next Monday.

“I want to thank those persons out there who would have come to the assistance of this young lady. I understand that she would have been provided with a job,” he said.

Wiltshire explained that Minister of People Empowerment Kirk Humphrey, who was unable to make the press conference due to the weekly engagement with Cabinet, said he would be speaking to the media about a number of relevant policy-related matters as soon as possible.

“I must indicate that Minister Humphrey spoke with Miss Gibbons and she has indicated that she was happy with the help that she has received thus far,” the Permanent Secretary said.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb