At face value the Parent-Infant-Project sounds like a superb
scheme to enhance the relationship between baby and parents, with an emphasis
on tackling issues of post-natal depression, trauma of difficult birth and
later problems of juvenile delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, crime and a repetition
of this vicious cycle which leaves the taxpayer with a huge bill to foot, and by huge I mean upward of £70,000 per 'troubled' child up to the age of 28, approximately 10 times the amount spent on a child who experiences a 'positive' and 'stable' family relationship.
However, amongst the more than 200 families a year the
Oxford Parent-Infant-Project helps, one cannot help but wonder if that includes
families from the lowest end of the economic scale. If this project is launched
nation-wide, would the parents of Baby P have participated? The recent case of
Aaron Booth who died after ingesting cannabis plant food, would his mother have
gone to this charity for help? With over 10,000 children taken into care
between April 2011 and March 2012, it is these children’s parents that needed
the charity’s help, I can’t help but think these parents are neither interested
nor informed about the charity’s existence.
Scouring the internet for information about the type of people who attend these sessions which include massage-therapy and 'positive playtime', I can only find repeated charity goals of helping mums and dads suffering depression or trauma. But where are the parents who (forgive the expression) 'pop children out for more benefits'? Where are the parents responsible for neglect that leads to the monumental figures of children taken into care?
Finally I would target young
parents who are more likely to experience trauma, methods of including the
Project’s work into schools should be considered, as this country is churning out too many mums under the age of 18 who have dropped out of education and, I am certain, dropped out of interest with government policy.
