A cycle of family breakdown: 'I asked for help … I was judged and my kids were taken'

Helen, who was in care as a child and then lost children for years, says support from others helped her get them back
• A numbers game: Indigenous children in care and the threat of another stolen generation

In the kitchen of her new home – hopefully the last one she’ll ever need to find – Helen is looking back over the years of “living hell” she spent in the NSW child protection system, first as a child and then as a mother.

Helen’s four children were taken away from her, one by one, the youngest at 15 months. The children were placed in a series of different care arrangements, some with extended paternal family, some with foster carers, none together. One of her children, now 19, was “gone” for seven years; the baby was three and a half when Helen finally had parental responsibility returned by the family court.

Related: Fighting to be heard in the child protection system: 'I felt like I was alone all the time'

They take our kids. They’re mad on doing these affidavits. They get into court real fast

Related: How Leticia Quince found her voice in care: 'I was lucky … that doesn't happen for everyone'

Related: 'It stops with me': Isaiah Dawe's mentoring plan for the foster kids of the future

Because how do you live without them? How do you sleep at night when your baby could be crying for you?

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Lrp0x7