#InCare | WATCH: Inverness woman separated from addict mum
MFR News gets exclusive access to North kids' care system.
Last updated 2nd Feb 2018
An Inverness woman's telling us about the moment she was separated from her mum when she was just nine-years-old.
Jemma and her younger brother were taken into foster care because their alcoholic drug addict mum wasn't looking after them.
LISTEN: MFR news reader John Callan brings you an extended report from our reporter Bryan Rutherford...
The family broke down after the 20-year-old's dad went to prison, which led to the mother's substance abuse.
Jemma's sharing her story with us as MFR News gets exclusive access to the North's care system.
Recalling the Children's Panel, she told MFR News: "Myself and my younger brother got dragged away from my mum, and put into a police car while other officers restrained my mum, and put her into a different police car, and then from there we were driven in opposite directions.
"When you're seeing the person who you cared for - your mum, who's supposed to be a responsible adult - break down in the middle of the street, screaming that her kids have been taken away from her, looking at my son I can imagine how difficult that was for her."
Over 400-kids are being looked after in Highland and more than 100-across Moray, and MFR News has been meeting the people and visiting the places responsible for providing different types of care to kids in different situations.
A spokesperson from the charity Who Cares? Scotland said: "Many think care leavers get the same chances as all other young people to get a job, go to college, work towards their dreams.
"The truth is, the opportunities may be there, but young people can’t always sustain them as they are still dealing with a lot of the emotional impact of being brought up in care.
"They need continued support to take advantage of these opportunities.
"Young people in care are just like all other young people – except they also need to deal with being separated from their parents, being judged for living in a children’s home and being viewed as ‘different’ because their families can’t look after them."
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All week we'll be hearing from some of the success stories who've turned their lives around since going through the system, whose experiences will be used to help improve it for future generations.