[420 Girl]

THE NSW Department of Community Services has abandoned a year-long legal campaign to remove two young children from their parents, ostensibly because the couple sometimes smoke marijuana.

In a statement to The Australian yesterday, the department said its legal advice was not to appeal the decision by a Supreme Court judge, who last month ordered the immediate return of the children to their parents, after 13 weeks in foster care.

Judge George Palmer said the children had been removed for "no reason whatsoever". Their parents were recreational smokers of cannabis but there was no evidence they had abused or neglected their children.

The judge said the more likely reason for their removal was a dispute between welfare workers and the children's mother.

The decision to abandon the case came as a foster carer from the NSW Central Coast began a legal battle to have the third of three extremely disabled children returned to her care.

The woman, who cannot be named, is a registered nurse who has made fostering her vocation.

She had been caring for two young girls for six years, and for a boy for two years.

All of the children are confined to bed and cannot walk, talk or feed themselves.

The children were removed from the woman's care after a psychologist, whose identity was yesterday suppressed by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, suggested the foster mother may be a "compulsive carer" compelled to care for disabled children because she enjoyed the drama, and the feedback she received from others in the community.

The woman believes the diagnosis is ridiculous.

The foster mother has already won the battle to have the two girls returned to her care but DOCS is resisting her attempt to have the boy returned.

The woman's home has been completely remodelled to accommodate three children confined to beds and wheelchairs.

The department has said the placement of the boy was always meant to be temporary. The woman has shown extraordinary commitment to the child, including sleeping on a couch in his hospital room for five weeks, when he became seriously ill.

The psychologist said this was evidence of her need to be seen as a devoted, selfless carer.

The system of child protection in NSW is under review, with the Association of Child Welfare Agencies being among others that believe a total overhaul is necessary.

At a special summit yesterday, ACWA resolved to push for the creation of a Specialist Child Protection Unit to monitor reports of suspected child abuse, referring children at risk of significant harm to DOCS for immediate investigation while less urgent cases would be directed to a newly created non-government operated Regional Referral Service, where families would receive the practical assistance they needed.

Non-government agencies would play a larger role in the new system, providing a wide range of services from targeted universal services through to early intervention and prevention programs and foster care.

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