Children’s needs being ignored due to pressure on care services
The case has been revealed in a series of files on care order applications by the State last year which have been released by the Child Care Law Reporting Project.
Documents underline the difficulty for state services and the juvenile justice system in providing children in difficulty with the care they need, with the ongoing pressures being placed on existing services top of the agenda.
And while attempts are being made to address the situation, the files show many court services are continuing to be overrun with demand — meaning some children’s needs are being ignored.
According to the records, available at www.irishexaminer.com, a district court judge was told in one case that despite a “troubled teen” being suitable for “secure care” due to antisocial behaviour and drug use, “there was no bed available” in a specialist service to help him.
The teenager had previously spent time in a juvenile detention centre for “criminal behaviour”.
However, the boy’s social worker and guardian was told he “had to show more severe behaviour in order to move up the waiting list” — a situation experts said “exposed him to further criminal prosecution”.
Another case details how the HSE sought an emergency care order for a six-month-old baby in a rural town due to ongoing concerns about its father’s heroin addiction. The baby’s mother was also suspected of using drugs during the pregnancy.
She and the baby were found unconscious in their home, suffering from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, before the emergency care order was allowed.
Another case file shows how the parents of six children failed in their court application for access to them after abuse allegations were made. The judge ruled access should be left at the discretion of the HSE.
Full care orders had been made by the State for the children, aged four to 15, because of “abuse, neglect, and domestic violence”.
The court was told “some of the children had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and the HSE feared that access with the parents could re-traumatise them”.
The records also show how in some cases, positive conclusions are reached for the benefit of the children involved.
These include the decision by one judge to “examine” the possibility of “shared care” between a foster family and biological grandparents.
The parents of the children involved were in prison due to drug-related issues, including the mother hiding an unspecified amount of heroin “in a laundry basket where the children could have found it”.
However, due to the fact that the children involved were still in primary school, the court felt the need to allow a “shared care” approach between foster parents and the children’s biological grandparents to ensure “long-term stability”.
The full file records can be read at www.childlawproject.ie.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
