Vulnerable children hospitalised as Covid-19 stops intervention
Covid-19 has dominated child care proceedings in the second half of 2020, severely impacting how the proceedings themselves were conducted. File picture.
The plight of vulnerable children has been wholly exacerbated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, with some ending up hospitalised due to increased neglect and a decrease in intervention and services.
That is according to the Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP), which published 48 cases where the state sought orders to take children into or keep them in care.
The harrowing nature of some of the cases has led to calls by the CCLRP to include social workers, foster carers, and other professionals in early rounds of vaccination.
Covid-19 has dominated child care proceedings in the second half of 2020, severely impacting how the proceedings themselves were conducted, and how it affected vulnerable families and children in care, the project's researchers said.
Cases arose where children ended up in hospital due to severe head-lice infestation, access for parents to their children in care was reduced, and restrictions on addiction and therapy services were increased.
It has led to a spike in domestic abuse, addiction, and familial alienation, the CCLRP found.
CCLRP Director Dr Carol Coulter, said: “It is clear that Covid-19, which has been difficult for all children, has had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable.
"There are instances of children in care being deprived of meaningful access with their parents and of reduced or delayed access to assessments that are essential to planning for their future care.
"There are cases of parents who might otherwise overcome their problems and be reunited with their children being denied the therapy that would allow them do so.
"Most worryingly, this year we have seen instances of severe neglect resulting in children being hospitalised with infection resulting from head-lice infestation."
Ms Coulter said that when planning measures to contain the virus, including early vaccination of the most vulnerable, it is vital that Government takes into account the needs of children in care.
"It should consider early vaccination for child protection workers and foster carers to reduce the impact on these most vulnerable children as far as possible,” she said.
The CCLRP collects and analyses data from child care proceedings, with the anonymity of the children and their families is preserved throughout.
The harrowing details of some of the cases are laid bare on its website.
An interim care order (ICO) was granted in the Dublin District Court in respect of two children, one of whom had to be admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit with severe infection due to head lice and scabies, the CCLRP said.
The child was found to be in very poor condition due to the skin infections, the report said.
She became medically unstable and her condition deteriorated overnight. Hospital staff feared that she was entering septic shock as her blood pressure became very low.
The child is now improving following intervention.
In a separate case, another school-going child was also hospitalised with infection due to head-lice infestation.
The child’s school principal had had concerns about the neglect of this child and her sister, but when the schools were closed she was unable to maintain contact with them, the report said.
The child did not attend any of the organised online classes, and when the class teacher called to the house, it was discovered that the child’s head had been shaved, which was why she did not want anyone to see her.
A child protection report was made, the report said. The court heard this child’s younger sister was in hospital due to her having scabies, ringworm, and headlice.
