Mother in co-parenting appeal to government
A divorced mother of two has appealed for better guidance from the Government on whether separated parents can meet during the coronavirus lockdown to hand over children.
The woman said she had not seen her two youngsters, aged 10 and 13, since April 4, when the shelter-in-place legislation designed to slow the spread of Covid-19 came into force.
The youngsters were with their father that day and have remained at his home since, about half a mile from her house.
The lockdown was put in place by Parliament for two weeks and has now been extended until May 2.
The woman said she understood the rules prevented her and her former husband from meeting to allow her to take the children and that her lawyer agreed.
The woman, who asked not to be named, added: “I haven’t seen them for ten days and I don’t even know when I am going to see my kids next.
“I can’t answer their questions about when. That’s hugely traumatic to me and my children.”
She said her youngest child was especially distressed at not seeing her and not knowing when they would be back together. “My little one keeps telling me: ‘I want to hug you’.”
The woman was worried about breaking the law and being embarrassed in public by the Government or police if she met her ex-husband for a handover.
She said the regulations were at odds with the co-parenting court order made after the couple’s divorce and discriminated against children based on their parents’ marital status.
The woman has written to David Burt, the Premier, but not yet received a reply.
She said she had also submitted an application for an exemption from the shelter-in-place rules, but was rejected.
The woman added: “I received a response which said my request was denied because I’m not an essential worker, which suggests they didn’t even read it.”
She predicted that the strict rules would be causing problems for many families.
The woman highlighted it was hard for her former husband to do essential grocery shopping because he did not want to take the children and expose them to risk or leave them at home alone for too long.
She said: “Caring for kids single-handedly places additional strain on the parents.
“A very simple solution would be to allow divorced parents to switch kids once a week. This will not create additional risk of transmission. It will alleviate the trauma and the risks.”
Section 3.3 of the Emergency Powers (Covid-19 Shelter in Place) Regulations 2020 state that “for the avoidance of doubt, a minor child of parents who do not live together shall remain at the home where the child is living on commencement until these regulations cease to have effect”.
Wayne Caines, the national security minister, was quizzed about the problem on Monday.
He said: “We were very clear when the legislation came in place that it is up to the parties to work out a solution.
“So, if they are meeting at a grocery store on a specific day and they are able to work it out, well, we want the parties to work it out amicably.”
Mr Caines added: “In the circumstances where there is not a defined decision, section 3.3 predicated that where we were at the start of the shelter-in-place, the child must stay there to the end of the shelter-in-place.”
But the woman said the response left her still unsure about what was allowed. The national security ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Burt was asked about the issue at a press conference on Tuesday night. He said “legitimate concerns” had been raised about some of the challenges posed by the shelter-in-place regulations and this was likely to be one of them.
The Premier said such issues would be considered by a Cabinet sub-committee.