Girl who threatened classmates ‘thriving with foster parent’

A 12-year-old girl, who threatened to have classmates shot, was in tears after being taken away from her parents and brought to her new foster parent, a court has heard.

Last month, a district court judge in the Family Law court approved an interim care order application from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, after hearing that the “out of control” girl had threatened to have classmates at her primary school shot by others.

The girl was aged 11 at the time of the incidents. Her primary school had to call gardaí on three occasions to help contain the girl.

The social worker in the case said the girl had assaulted and threatened classmates and assaulted her mother and a sister in the presence of the school principal.

Arising from the judge’s order, the following day, Tusla took the girl from her parents and brought her to a foster parent in the same county.

Giving evidence as part of an application to extend the care order, the social worker in the case told the court the girl cried as she was bringing her to her foster parent.

She said: “That has shown to me that there are very close family bonds — that family means a lot to her.”

Paying credit to the girl’s parents on the handover of their daughter Tusla, the social worker said: “They showed immense kindness and support to their daughter and supported an arrangement that would have otherwise involved gardaí and would have been very distressing for everyone.”

The social worker said that the girl is content and happy in her foster placement and that there has been no repeat of earlier behaviour.

“The girl has asked me about returning home and most children would be asking that, but her behaviour and how she is doing shows me that she is content, that she is happy and thriving where she is.

“Her behaviour shows that this arrangement is working but this is very early days.”

The girl’s parents enjoy one-hour access to their daughter per week.

The social worker said: “The girl presents as very happy and delighted to see her parents when she sees them and equally she has been happy to return to her carer.”

The girl’s parents are separated and the mother was opposing the application for an extension of the interim care order. She told the court: “I love my daughter dearly and I would like to have my daughter home.”

The father told the court: “My daughter wants to come home. No one likes to lose a child and I would like that she could come home.”

A solicitor for the court-appointed guardian ad litem for the girl said he was supporting the application for the extension of the interim care order.

The social worker in the case said Tusla still has concerns about the family’s ability to care for her. She said: “The family life is still very chaotic and unstable and it remains very concerning.”

She said that arising from a case conference which was also attended by the girl’s parents, “all agencies would share a very high level of concern around the parents’ current capacity and the family situation”.

Granting Tusla its application for an extension to the interim care order, the district court judge said the girl is now in recovery, and is responding to boundaries and consistent care. He said he had no difficulty in extending the interim care order for 29 days.