The Community Forum to Voice and Address Issues Affecting the Family
Parents Against Injustice Mission Statement Leaflet And Contact Details
Parents Against Injustice
Mission statement
We provide families with the support and understanding at a time when they need it most
Who are we?
Parents Against INjustice (PAIN) assists families caught up in care proceedings and campaigns for reform on their behalf. The group was founded by Sue Amphlett in 1985 but was disbanded in 2000 when vital funding was withdrawn. However the need for its service remains. The organisation in its present guise relies on volunteers who offer their time to promote the group.
The group has dealt with nearly 13000 cases over its history. It helps meet the very real needs of supporting and advising parents who find themselves wrongly accused of child abuse or neglect. It helps families become aware of their legal rights, assists them in finding lawyers and offers support in trying to recover from an experience of a system which often leaves them feeling abused themselves.
Alison Stevens is the Chairperson and was part of the original PAIN organisation. During the late 1980s Alison faced the loss of her own children after wrongly being accused of harming her son. It had transpired that her son was suffering from brittle bones disease and that she had not caused injuries to her son. Luckily Alison managed to keep her children. She felt that without the help and support given to her by PAIN that she would not have survived the ordeal. Since then Alison has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of families and lobbying MPs. She has done radio and TV interviews.
Chris Smith has been PAIN Secretary since 2004. Chris was caught in care proceedings and sadly lost his sons through adoption. His only contact now is a twice yearly update. Chris has campaigned tirelessly since joining us in 2003 and as a result has increased much media attention including several major articles written in the Daily Telegraph. This has resulted in one county having a full investigation into procedures.
Trevor Jones is involved on the campaign side of PAIN highlighting the problems within the present child protection system with letters published in The Times, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Observer, Sunday Telegraph and many local and regional papers. He has written PAIN submissions to recent government consultations and was instrumental in co-ordinating a multi organisational response to the Child Care Proceedings Review in November 2005.
What is being said?
On 4th March 2005, Justice Sir Michael Collins in the Royal Courts of Justice made the following statement when he was considering the case of Professor David Southall, who falsely accused Stephen Clark of murdering his son. “He did it (accused Stephen Clark) because he formed a view and he (Prof Southall) did what he (Prof. Southall) believed was in the best interest of the child. It is not in any child's best interest to make an allegation against an innocent parent based on limited information, for that child to then be removed from loving parents, that is in itself, abuse"
"Doctors opinions are merely that - ‘opinions’. Rarely can a doctor prove his diagnosis with definitive pathological tests. There may be many causes for particular signs and symptoms. But, once a Doctor has made a diagnosis of non-accidental injury, other possible underlying causes are no longer investigated, such as birth trauma or congenital defects."
Sue Amphlett - PAIN (Parents Against Injustice)
“We are facing closed minds in the judiciary and no assistance from any official source…if social services find a child in a situation where the adults are less than perfect; they put the child in care”.
Bill Bache – Solicitor for Angela Canning Oct 2004
“Parents who have been through the social services mill talk of hostile social workers, biased reporting of meetings and contact sessions, failure to supply memos and records of telephone calls on request and selection of material to show to the court that shows birth parents in the worst light”.
Cassandra Jardine – Daily Telegraph Jan 2005
Objectives:
We understand that families faced in this situation often fear the worst and all too often are unaware of their rights and how to cope.
We continue to lobby Parliament and in the course of this work have had meetings with Earl Howe among others.
Our aim is to ensure “fair play” for families caught in care proceedings. We aim to ensure that local authorities, professionals including doctors, psychologists and family assessment centres follow strict procedures and treat you with dignity.
We make no judgement about your case. We accept that not all families are innocent. We take no sides except for the child and we are committed to the child’s/children’s best interest. However, we are only too aware of families’ rights which are often overlooked by local authorities and family assessments.
Here to help:
If you need advice or guidance then please contact us. It may save you from the losing the most important possessions in your life. We are happy to help.
We feel the only way we can fight this is for families to come together with their cases. This can identify a failing in the system.
You can email your case to us. All identities must be protected and we can add this to our website.
We need volunteers to assist us in our campaign. You too could be helping other families in a similar situation.
Please feel free to look at our website:
http://www.parentsagainstinjustice.org.uk
Contact us:-
By email:-
parentsagainstinjustice@hotmail.co.uk
alison.stevens4@tesco.net
By Telephone:-
0116 2602855
Mission statement
We provide families with the support and understanding at a time when they need it most
Who are we?
Parents Against INjustice (PAIN) assists families caught up in care proceedings and campaigns for reform on their behalf. The group was founded by Sue Amphlett in 1985 but was disbanded in 2000 when vital funding was withdrawn. However the need for its service remains. The organisation in its present guise relies on volunteers who offer their time to promote the group.
The group has dealt with nearly 13000 cases over its history. It helps meet the very real needs of supporting and advising parents who find themselves wrongly accused of child abuse or neglect. It helps families become aware of their legal rights, assists them in finding lawyers and offers support in trying to recover from an experience of a system which often leaves them feeling abused themselves.
Alison Stevens is the Chairperson and was part of the original PAIN organisation. During the late 1980s Alison faced the loss of her own children after wrongly being accused of harming her son. It had transpired that her son was suffering from brittle bones disease and that she had not caused injuries to her son. Luckily Alison managed to keep her children. She felt that without the help and support given to her by PAIN that she would not have survived the ordeal. Since then Alison has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of families and lobbying MPs. She has done radio and TV interviews.
Chris Smith has been PAIN Secretary since 2004. Chris was caught in care proceedings and sadly lost his sons through adoption. His only contact now is a twice yearly update. Chris has campaigned tirelessly since joining us in 2003 and as a result has increased much media attention including several major articles written in the Daily Telegraph. This has resulted in one county having a full investigation into procedures.
Trevor Jones is involved on the campaign side of PAIN highlighting the problems within the present child protection system with letters published in The Times, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Observer, Sunday Telegraph and many local and regional papers. He has written PAIN submissions to recent government consultations and was instrumental in co-ordinating a multi organisational response to the Child Care Proceedings Review in November 2005.
What is being said?
On 4th March 2005, Justice Sir Michael Collins in the Royal Courts of Justice made the following statement when he was considering the case of Professor David Southall, who falsely accused Stephen Clark of murdering his son. “He did it (accused Stephen Clark) because he formed a view and he (Prof Southall) did what he (Prof. Southall) believed was in the best interest of the child. It is not in any child's best interest to make an allegation against an innocent parent based on limited information, for that child to then be removed from loving parents, that is in itself, abuse"
"Doctors opinions are merely that - ‘opinions’. Rarely can a doctor prove his diagnosis with definitive pathological tests. There may be many causes for particular signs and symptoms. But, once a Doctor has made a diagnosis of non-accidental injury, other possible underlying causes are no longer investigated, such as birth trauma or congenital defects."
Sue Amphlett - PAIN (Parents Against Injustice)
“We are facing closed minds in the judiciary and no assistance from any official source…if social services find a child in a situation where the adults are less than perfect; they put the child in care”.
Bill Bache – Solicitor for Angela Canning Oct 2004
“Parents who have been through the social services mill talk of hostile social workers, biased reporting of meetings and contact sessions, failure to supply memos and records of telephone calls on request and selection of material to show to the court that shows birth parents in the worst light”.
Cassandra Jardine – Daily Telegraph Jan 2005
Objectives:
We understand that families faced in this situation often fear the worst and all too often are unaware of their rights and how to cope.
We continue to lobby Parliament and in the course of this work have had meetings with Earl Howe among others.
Our aim is to ensure “fair play” for families caught in care proceedings. We aim to ensure that local authorities, professionals including doctors, psychologists and family assessment centres follow strict procedures and treat you with dignity.
We make no judgement about your case. We accept that not all families are innocent. We take no sides except for the child and we are committed to the child’s/children’s best interest. However, we are only too aware of families’ rights which are often overlooked by local authorities and family assessments.
Here to help:
If you need advice or guidance then please contact us. It may save you from the losing the most important possessions in your life. We are happy to help.
We feel the only way we can fight this is for families to come together with their cases. This can identify a failing in the system.
You can email your case to us. All identities must be protected and we can add this to our website.
We need volunteers to assist us in our campaign. You too could be helping other families in a similar situation.
Please feel free to look at our website:
http://www.parentsagainstinjustice.org.uk
Contact us:-
By email:-
parentsagainstinjustice@hotmail.co.uk
alison.stevens4@tesco.net
By Telephone:-
0116 2602855
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