An Italian court has approved a gradual reunification plan for a British-Australian couple whose three children were removed from their off-grid home in the Abruzzo region last year.
Nathan Trevallion and Catherine Birmingham will initially be allowed to spend time with their children at home during the day, with weekend overnight stays due to begin in October, their lawyer Simone Pillon said.
The children, a nine-year-old girl and seven-year-old twin boys, will remain at a residential care facility in Vasto for now. Their return to live permanently with their parents will depend on assessments by social services.
The Juvenile Court of L’Aquila has ordered that the process be carried out in stages, with the family’s progress monitored by authorities. The children are also expected to begin attending a state school as part of the arrangements.
Mr Pillon said the ruling represented progress but did not go far enough. He said the couple would appeal in an effort to secure a faster and fuller reunification.
The lawyer said the family had been seeking reunification since June and had been waiting for a decision while the children remained in care. The couple are expected to live with them in a home made available by the municipality of Palmoli, near their former woodland property.
The children were taken from the family’s remote farmhouse in November after the court suspended their parents’ responsibility. Their mother remained with them at the care facility until March, when she was ordered to leave following recommendations from social services.
Authorities had raised concerns about the family’s isolated lifestyle, including what the court described as limited social contact, no stable income and inadequate sanitary facilities. The children had also been educated at home.
The case began attracting attention after all five members of the family were taken to hospital following mushroom poisoning. It subsequently prompted a wider debate in Italy over alternative lifestyles, home education and the circumstances in which the state should intervene in family life.
A psychological assessment submitted to the court in June said conditions should be created as soon as possible for the children to return home in a way compatible with their wellbeing. The latest ruling leaves that outcome open, but makes it conditional on the success of the supervised reintegration process.
