Memorandum by the Catholic Child Welfare
Council
WELFARE OF FORMER CHILD MIGRANTS
(CM 107)
1. BACKGROUND AND
HISTORICAL INFORMATIONBritain
sent children and young people overseas to lead new lives in the
Colonies from early times. The Catholic Church and its agencies,
as major carers of children in need in the UK, were involved in
two main periods of child migration, to Canada and Australia.
The Catholic Child Welfare Council (CCWC), which was founded in
1929, is involved because of its role as an umbrella body for
the Catholic children's agencies.Canada: Children and young
people were sent to Canada, from about 1870 to 1930. We estimate
that more than 10,000 Catholic children and young people went
to Canada through a variety of different Catholic organisations,
over this period, being about 10 per cent of the total number
sent nationally.Australia: Children were sent to Australia,
from 1938-1963. During this period Catholic agencies in England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland co-operated with the British
and Australian governments in nominating children for migration
to Australia under the Government scheme. We understand that the
total number of children sent under this scheme was approximately
3,000 of whom we estimate that at least 1,200 came from Catholic
children's homes and agencies. Two thirds of these went to Western
Australia; the remaining third were spread thinly over the other
States.Rosemary Keenan, of the Catholic Children's Society (Westminster)
has written a historical summary of child migration as it relates
to the Catholic agencies and a copy is enclosed. Any specific
questions relating to contact between the Catholic sending agencies
and the governments of the time could probably be answered by
further reference to contemporary correspondence in CCWC files.
2. RECORDSFor
Australia, CCWC has a central record for many, but not all,
of the Catholic child migrants. Records may also be held by individual
agencies or religious orders who looked after the children in
this country, but by today's standards these records (in common
with others of the period) were usually very scanty. Most children
were sent either by the diocesan child care agencies or by religious
orders, such as the Sisters of Nazareth. A few individual children
were sent at the request of their families. Some were recruited
by Australian institutions in direct contact with Catholic children's
homes in the UK and some of these children became known to CCWC
later. The CCWC records relating to child migration to Australia
are housed at the Catholic Children's Society (Westminster) and
are overseen by Rosemary Keenan who is based there. Rosemary Keenan
has been compiling for some years, on behalf of CCWC, a database
of all former Catholic child migrants to Australia, containing
both historical information and recent contacts. A copy of the
most recent analysis of this database is enclosed.For Canada,
we are looking further back in time and at much larger numbers.
Surviving records are spread because the sending institutions,
societies and religious orders were spread and most of these bodies
still have their own records. It can be a problem identifying
record sources, but we are trying to assist in this by supporting
the creation of a national database. Personnel at Catholic Children's
Society (Westminster) and the Nugent Care Society (Liverpool)
have already entered over 4,000 of the potential 10,000-15,000
names, but as CCWC and the agencies concerned do not have any
resources to finance this, it is unlikely to progress much further
without external funding.
3. EFFECTS ON
THE LIVES
OF THE
CHILD MIGRANTSIt
is now recognised that the experience of being sent to a country
at the other side of the world, away from familiar faces and environments,
with no knowledge of their birth families and without any possibility
of access to them, had a profoundly adverse effect on many of
these migrants. Many are still suffering from a lack of identity
and even those who objectively did better by going to Australia
or Canada still feel a need to find out about their birth origins
and to understand them. For many, time is running out for locating
a birth mother who may still be alive, but is now very elderly.
For others, personal relationships have never been easy because
of their childhood experiences, and counselling by someone with
specialist knowledge of child migrant issues is needed.In order
to find out more about the needs of former child migrants at first
hand, and how best to meet those needs. CCWC's Chairman and General
Secretary visited Australia in March 1995. We enclose a summary
report of that visit, which highlights the need for provision
of services in both in the UK and Australia. The visit was fully
recorded and more detailed information could be made available
on request. Developments since the visit have only underlined
the importance of providing specialist services former child migrants.
4. OUR SERVICEThe
Catholic diocesan agencies in the UK provide information and assistance
for former child migrants, as part of a general aftercare service
for people who were in their care as children. However, not only
have overall numbers of people seeking information increased,
but the subject of child migration has been given a much higher
public profile in recent years and the result of this is that
more former child migrants and their families are coming forward
to seek help or information. We assist them in various ways, as
the enclosed literature explains.Enclosed is our Statement of
Intent, Information for Catholic child migrants to Australia and
Information for counselling agencies in Australia which give more
detailed information about our services to former child migrants.
The amount of help we can offer is limited by a lack of resources.
Individual agencies assist those who were formerly in their care
and CCWC's service for those who were cared for in the UK by one
of the religious orders, without any connection with a diocesan
agency, is only made possible by grants from the Sisters of Nazareth
and Christian Brothers. This funding has already been given for
six years and it is not realistic to expect it to continue indefinitely.
We enclose an account of the CCWC family search service for former
Australian child migrants, including numbers of former child migrants
assisted since 1992, with outcomes.
5. CO -OPERATION
WITH OTHER
AGENCIES WHICH
ASSIST CHILD
MIGRANTS:The UK: It will be seen from the
above that CCWC has been pro-active in the field of assisting
former child migrants for a number of years. We established a
sub-committee to deal with matters relating to child migrants
in 1992, the same year as our research service was set up. It
is through the efforts of Rosemary Keenan that a Sending Agencies
Group has come together and now meets regularly. We liaise with
other agencies, including the Child Migrant Trust, on a case-by-case
basis as well as to discuss policy and practice.Australia:
Particular benefits flowed from the visit to Australia in 1995.
We are working in co-operation with the Christian Brothers, Sisters
of Mercy and Sisters of Nazareth in Australia, as well as the
Catholic Migrant Centre in Perth, the Christian Brothers Ex-Residents
Services (CBERS), the Australian Child Migrant Foundation (ACMF),
Centacare Australia, the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission
and other organisation. We have assisted these bodies in a variety
of ways to improve their own services to former child migrants.Canada:
We have developed links with David Lorente, Chair of Heritage
Renfrew Home Children Committee in Ontario; representatives from
Catholic agencies will be attending the 8th Annual Reunion of
Home Children this year.
6. POSSIBLE ACTION
BY THE
BRITISH GOVERNMENT
AND OTHERS:Funding:
We cannot express too strongly that the major need is for some
funding to be made available to meet the ongoing needs of former
child migrants and their families. We believe that we can provide
the necessary services for those formerly in Catholic care, but
that the Government has a responsibility to assist with funding,
which would enable us to provide or improve the following:Family
search and reunions: This can be a time-consuming and costly
business. The Catholic diocesan agencies have no funding for the
work, although they believe they have the obligation to do it,
and in fact they give it priority at the expense of other origins
enquiries. CCWC's own service is currently funded entirely by
two religious orders, but we cannot expect this funding indefinitely,
and at present both the numbers of new enquiries and the average
costs of cases are rising. Although experience shows that enquiries
by the descendants of migrants are likely to continue, the number
of actual child migrants still alive is finite and diminishing
and the service offered to them needs to be adequately funded
for as long as it is needed. We believe that some Department of
Health funding should be made available to the sending agencies
to support and assist in the cost of this work.Travel and visits:
If family are located, a visit to meet them becomes a priority.
Airfares, accommodation and other expenses are beyond the means
of many former child migrants and although some bodies in Australia,
notably CBERS, now make grants for visits, this is still a major
need.Counselling and pastoral care: There is a growing
awareness of the need for specialist counselling, both as part
of the process of family reunion, and at other times. This is
provided at present as part of our overall service, but again
we are limited by budgets. Because of geographical considerations
counselling may need to be carried out by another agency and the
cost of this can be a particular problem.Professional training:
Staff in our agencies need appropriate training in order to provide
a proper professional service to former child migrants and their
families. We could also contribute to training of people in other
agencies, both in the UK and Australia. Again it is lack of financial
resources which limit us.Database: Catholic agencies could
provide a much better service for child migrant enquiries from
Canada if we had the resources to continue with the Canadian database.
Once completed it would be a permanent resource. The estimated
cost of this (if shared between the four main Catholic sending
agencies) is £12,800, based on 1,000 hours labour costs and
four computers and printers.Choices: We believe that the
paramount consideration should be the provision of appropriate
service to former child migrants in order to meet their needs.
In many cases this is suitably done through the sending agency,
but for others the Child Migrant Trust or another independent
body may be more appropriate and we believe that the migrant should
have that choice. Therefore the Department of Health should recognise
the need for a variety of agencies to be providing services and
also for them to be liaising and working collaboratively. If this
is accepted by the Inquiry, with recommendations for appropriate
funding, it would provide a basis for a comprehensive professional
service to meet the ongoing needs of former child migrants.
April 1998
ENCLOSURES
Document 1: Catholic Child Welfare Council, General
background information (including a list of Catholic diocesan
agencies) (Not Printed)
Document 2: Former Catholic Child Migrants from
the UK to Australia—Some Background information
Document 3: Historical background to child migration
Document 4: Former child migrants to Australia,
Analysis of computerised database, January 1998
Document 5: Visit to Australia in March 1995
Document 5A: Visit to Australia in March 1995
Document 6: Enquiries by former child migrants—Statement
of Intent
Document 7: Information for Catholic child migrants
to Australia
Document 8: Helping former Catholic child migrants
to find family in the UK—Information for counselling agencies
in Australia (Not Printed)
Document 9: Family search service for former
Australian child migrants
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