Child protection specialists to revisit family with six children

Child protection specialists will visit again a family in Ukmergė District after a decision was made to remove six children from the household, LRT reports. The parents contacted the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service, and a meeting has been arranged, Lina Baranauskienė, head of the service’s Vilnius County division, confirmed to ELTA.

“We thank the parents for contacting child rights defenders. We have agreed to meet in the near future,” Baranauskienė said.

She said she hoped to find alternative solutions with the parents to ensure the children’s wellbeing and safety. The primary task of child rights officials, she said, was not to remove children from their family but to find suitable solutions with the parents so that the family could remain together while ensuring the children’s wellbeing and health.

Baranauskienė added that an agreement with the family could mean there would no longer be grounds to ask a court to approve the removal of the children.

Dalia Jasevičienė, a legal assistant representing the family, also confirmed to ELTA that child protection specialists would visit the household. “The specialists will come to the family home to inspect the living conditions,” she said.

Jasevičienė said the family was prepared to make certain compromises to prevent the children from being removed. The family would agree to pay closer attention to their healthcare and to have the children examined by doctors, she said.

However, the family disagrees with the support allegedly offered by child protection officials following the death of the baby. Jasevičienė said the family believed the proposed services did not meet its needs, including suggestions that the mother should be taught how to feed the children.

Decision made to remove six children

ELTA reported that Jasevičienė had published on Facebook details about the large family living in Ukmergė District. One of the children, a baby several months old, died at Kaunas Clinics on Sunday.

According to Jasevičienė, the child was born in May with Patau syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that often means affected children do not live long.

After the child’s death, the family was informed of the service’s decision to remove the children, including the girl who had already died. The service previously told ELTA that this was an error: information about the baby’s death reached the authorities only several days later, so the formal removal decision also included the deceased child.

Child rights officials said the baby’s serious condition was not the only reason for deciding to remove the children from the family. They said there was a broader set of circumstances indicating a need to ensure the children’s safety.

Baranauskienė previously said that although the decision to remove the children had been made, the service had not yet applied to a court for permission. She said the decision could be changed if the parents chose to cooperate with child protection specialists.