MUM OF 67 IN CARE KIDS BAN
Foster parents accuse council of wrecking their lives
A mum who fostered more than 60 children has been blacklisted because of assault claims which were found to be false.
Diane Boyle, 49, and husband Karl, 55, are taking their local authority to a tribunal after they were deemed unfit to foster.
The couple, who have been carers for 17 years, say the decision has robbed them of their livelihoods. They are claiming
unfair dismissal in a landmark case backed by a trade union.
The allegations against Diane were made to police by two brothers who had been in her care, then aged 13 and 15, in April last year.
They claimed that she had attacked them several times in the family home between 2010 and 2016.
After of f icers investigated, Diane appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court in December on four assault charges and one of threatening behaviour.
She was cleared on all five charges by Sheriff Allan McKay.
But since then, both Diane and Karl have been removed from the foster carers’ register and had an appeal against that decision rejected.
Diane, who has no criminal convictions, said: “Karl and I have been the victims of an injustice.
“We worked ful l- time for 17 years and were on cal l 24 hours a day to take vulnerable chi ldren, including newly-born babies.
“It was both a job and a career. We lost our home and now have to rent.
“I was cleared in court but the council have condemned me. I’ve been hung out to dry here.
“I was locked in a cell at the police station and had my DNA and fingerprints taken. It was the most horrifying time of my life.
“They have in the past described their foster carers as everyday heroes. But we have been cast here as villains.”
Diane added : “When we were de-registered last November we were told by North Lanarkshire Council that we did not have skills to meet the needs of foster
children, emotionally or physical ly. We found that incredible given our history as carers.
“We were also told that they had concerns going back a number years.
“But to this date they have not able to give us any e x ampl e s of these concerns.”
Th e couple are arguing fostering was their full-time job and as a result, they are due compensation.
They claim they were left bankrupt after being taken off the register, as they had no other source of income at the time, and had to sell their extended five-bedroom home to pay their debts.
In the court case against Diane, a Sunday School teacher, a council social worker and the grandparents of the boys who brought the claim were among witnesses in her defence.
The couple are members of a gospel church in Motherwell, Roman Road Hall.
Close friend and former church member Angus Mathie said: “Everyone who knows Karl and Diane were shocked by the allegations and did not believe
Karl and I have been the victims of an injustice
them for one minute. I do not know why anyone could question their abilities as foster parents. The love and care they have shown to children from various backgrounds is exceptional.” Backed by the Independent Workers Union, the pair launched their employment tribunal action against the council in Glasgow last week. They claim they were employed by the authority and are entitled to pursue a case for unfair dismissal. The council argue that they weren’t their employer. A ful l hearing on the issue will be held later this year. Karl said: “Over many years working with North Lanarkshire Council, there were no issues over the care of the children we fostered. “If the wel fare and safety of the youngsters is the main issue, why did they place so many with us over such a long period of time?” Diane added: “We both applied for and secured other jobs but the offers were withdrawn on the basis, we understand, of information received from the council. “We are taking this action to prevent other foster carers from going through what we have.” The couple, who have two grown-up
children, applied to become foster parents in 1999 but had to wait wait18monthsbeforetheywereaccepted. 18 months before they were accepted.
Diane said: “We absolutely love children and were very keen to begin fostering.
“Karl and I always thought of it as a career for us both, something we would do full time.
“We went t h r ou g h l en g t h y vetting and training and our families and friends were interviewed.”
The Boyles have cared for 67 children. Their first fostering experience was a 12-month-old baby and her newborn sister, who had been taken from their vulnerable mother.
They looked after the pair for two years before they were returned to the mum.
Diane added: “The two babies were very needy and very demanding.
“Our two boys, Jonathan and David, were only five and six at the time but they adored them both and were very sad when they left.”
The couple say they were often asked to look after children at short notice – sometimes for a few days, sometimes for years.
Diane said: “We made ourselves available to the council 24 hours a day for the 17 years, including my husband, who was one of the few full-time male carers.
“They took advantage of that. One child we took on needed to be taken to nursery every day in Kilsyth which is 20 miles away and then brought home.
“We could not have done that if Karl had been working. Once we took on a family of five children and even bbuiltilt an extensionti so ththe girlsil couldldhhave their own rooms.
“The fees and allowances we got from the council were our sole income, apart from the occasional part-time work I used to do.
“You also have to remember that most of the children we looked after had very challenging behaviour, that is why they were in foster care.” Karl says that on one occasion a child they were looking after tried to stab him with a knife. He added; “These were the types of situations we had to learn to handle.
”Our gift is caring for children and we are being denied that. We are being denied the job we love.”
In a separate case last year, a tribunal ruled that carers Jimmy and Christine Johnstone were employed by Glasgow City Council. However, they were involved in a specialised field and the tr ibunal stressed the judgment did not apply to mainstream foster carers.
Jimmy, now secretary of the Scotland Foster Care Workers branch of the IWGB, said: “We are pleased, not only that Diane and Karl will have a chance to finally get justice, but that this case might help broaden the rights of other vulnerable workers like them.”
A North Lanarkshire council spokesman added: “Given there are ongoing l ega l proceedings , it would be inappropriate to comment.”