L’AQUILA, 1 Nov. (LaPresse) – Catherine Birmingham, mother of the three children from the so-called ‘Palmoli woods family’ in the province of Chieti, has been appointed to a professional role. Birmingham will collaborate with the National Institute of Family Pedagogy in Rome as part of the advanced training course on ‘Natural Intelligence’. The agreement, signed on 17 October, provides for a gross hourly rate of 60 euros and participation in sessions where she will share her personal experiences and engage in discussions with course participants, who include social workers. This appointment comes as the process of gradual reunification with their three children – who have been placed in a care home in Vasto (Chieti) since 10 November 2025 – continues, as ordered by the Juvenile Court. Following the resumption in September of supervised visits at the facility identified by the Municipality of Palmoli, the children spent their first weekend with their parents last October. Meanwhile, last Friday, the couple’s lawyers filed a 36-page defence brief with the Juvenile Court of L’Aquila, authorised by the judicial authority. Among other issues, the document highlights the children’s health situation and the request – repeatedly emphasised by the Child Neuropsychiatry Service – to assess the potential serious repercussions on their health resulting from the continuation of their placement outside the family.
A Family in the Woods, Catherine Birmingham, lecturer at the Institute of Education in Rome
L’AQUILA, 1 Nov. (LaPresse) – Catherine Birmingham, mother of the three children from the so-called ‘Palmoli woods family’ in the province of Chieti, has been appointed to a professional role. Birmingham will collaborate with the National Institute of Family Pedagogy in Rome as part of the advanced training course on ‘Natural Intelligence’. The agreement, signed on 17 October, provides for a gross hourly rate of 60 euros and participation in sessions where she will share her personal experiences and engage in discussions with course participants, who include social workers. This appointment comes as the process of gradual reunification with their three children – who have been placed in a care home in Vasto (Chieti) since 10 November 2025 – continues, as ordered by the Juvenile Court. Following the resumption in September of supervised visits at the facility identified by the Municipality of Palmoli, the children spent their first weekend with their parents last October. Meanwhile, last Friday, the couple’s lawyers filed a 36-page defence brief with the Juvenile Court of L’Aquila, authorised by the judicial authority. Among other issues, the document highlights the children’s health situation and the request – repeatedly emphasised by the Child Neuropsychiatry Service – to assess the potential serious repercussions on their health resulting from the continuation of their placement outside the family.