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	Most parents involved in child-care cases in the courts are not married and one in six has mental problems, a new report reveals.</p>
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	The majority of them are single or separated and parenting alone, according to the study of cases involving over 800 children.</p>
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	The report, to be launched today, finds nearly one in three children has special needs and one in four child-care cases involve a parent from an ethnic minority, including travellers.</p>
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	The Child Care Law Reporting Project said there is little consistency in the reasons for removing children from parents around the country.</p>
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	In one case, a judge refused long-term care orders for a number of children despite the fact that a doctor gave compelling evidence of severe physical abuse.</p>
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	The judge granted short orders instead and planned to give the younger children back to the mother.</p>
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	In another case, the Child and Family Agency sought a care order for a baby after a mother tested positive for cannabis after being hospitalised with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.</p>
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	The order was sought although the woman denied using the drug and her baby did not show evidence of neglect.</p>
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	&quot;I&#39;m not criticising the judge in the first case particularly but saying there appears to be different thresholds for removing children from parents,&quot; said the Director of the project, Carol Coulter.</p>
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	&quot;The whole system has grown up in an ad hoc way.&quot;</p>
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	She called for a dedicated family court to be set up.</p>
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	The report finds children can be at particular risk of abuse and neglect when parents are poor, have a mental illness, and a child with special needs.</p>
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	Most cases involve parents who are vulnerable due to mental issues, drugs or alcohol abuse, and have little family support. Most are claiming social welfare.</p>
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	Ms Coulter said it is urgent that those coming to our shores understand what is expected of them as parents due to the disproportionate representation of non-Irish parents in the courts.</p>
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	She said social workers need intensive training to deal with cultural differences, while this also made fostering more complicated.</p>
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	In most courts outside Dublin, child-care cases are heard on a general family law day, when there can be up to 70 or 80 cases on the list.</p>
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	If a case is contested it could be repeatedly adjourned over many months.</p>
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	Ms Coulter said it is not possible for child-care cases to receive the attention they need and deserve if there is no consent to the orders.</p>
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	&quot;These cases alone make a compelling case for the establishment of a special family court as soon as possible,&quot; she said.</p>
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	&quot;But the courts alone are not the answer to the problems of vulnerable families.</p>
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	&quot;Society as a whole must take responsibility for supporting them so that taking children into care is a last resort.&quot;</p>
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	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/most-parents-in-childcare-cases-are-not-married-30697914.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/most-parents-in-childcare-cases-are-not-married-30697914.html</a></p>
