Many judges are “in despair” over the shortage of appropriate places for children in care, according to the latest reports of the Child Law Project (CLP) published.
The dearth of suitable places is “having a domino effect that risks collapsing the care system”, said project chief executive Dr Maria Corbett.
One judge, who warned the lack of places is a “tsunami about to reach shore and nothing is being done”, said he did not know why Tusla, the child and family agency, was not treating the “scandalous” situation as “a crisis”.
It was “by the grace of God” that some of the children affected are still alive and the in-camera nature of childcare proceedings meant the crisis was largely going under the radar, he said.
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Several children whom the court had ordered should be in special care were placed at potential risk, including a chronically suicidal girl rescued from train tracks and ledges and hospitalised more than 25 times, and a teenage autistic boy who was at “exceptional” risk, including exploitation by criminals.
Dr Corbett said the knock-on effects of the dearth of suitable places include that Tusla is delaying applications to take children into care and continuing to use unregulated or unsuitable emergency placements. “Urgent action across Government is needed to halt this spiral of poor practice and to build trust in the care system.”
Of particular concern in the CLP reports are cases where there was concern that the child was being sexually or criminally exploited and the level of support in their care placement was insufficient to address the risks, Dr Corbett said.
The shortage of appropriate placements, in foster, residential and special care, dominates the CLP reports.
Another consistent theme is the challenge of providing allocated social workers and support services for children in care. Dublin District Court judge Conor Fottrell last week said he had been told that 235 children in two social work areas do not, contrary to Tusla’s national policy, have allocated social workers.
The CLP reports illustrate that cases involving children from migrant families and unaccompanied minors present additional complexities, including language barriers.
The reports set out some success stories where children are thriving in care, including where foster carers said a teenager with them for 12 years “would have a home with them for as long as she wished”. One report concerned a mother who overcame addictions and other difficulties over eight years in an attempt to have increased access to her daughter.
Despite such success stories, judges and other professionals consistently express concern and frustration about failings in the care system and about the “dismal” HSE response to meeting the disability and mental health needs of children in care, the CLP said. Judges actively monitor progress and seek to hold Tusla to account, it said.
The 70 reports are the last to be published by the CLP under a three-year grant from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth which expires in October.
Sixty-seven reports are from the District Court with one each from the Supreme Court, Circuit Court and High Court. Thirty-three District Court reports concerned applications by Tusla to take a child into care or under its supervision or maintain such a scenario, with key themes including parental mental health, disability, addiction, homelessness, domestic violence and criminality.
Case study: No secure place for teenage girl feared subject to rape and sexual trafficking
A teenage girl allegedly subject to rape and sexual exploitation while in care was sent to a UK unit because no special care bed could be found in the State.
The judge dealing with the case said the situation was “nothing short of shocking” and “the worst I have ever come across”.
“It beggars’ belief that in 2024 this would come before a court.”
It was alleged that the girl, taken into care by Tusla as a young child, was raped while in care and sexually trafficked throughout the country. Aged in her late teens, she was said to have the cognitive ability of a 10-year-old.
Her court-appointed guardian sought a serious review of her case after an order for her detention in a special care unit was made but she was among 10 children waiting for a place. The case was in court more than 10 times while the girl remained in an insecure private residential placement.
She phoned her guardian at 11pm one night saying she did not know where she was and was cold and hungry. The guardian said there were “no words” to describe the girl’s plight and despair, collected her from a city and arranged for her to be returned to her placement two hours away.
The girl regularly absconded with other children and was at substantial risk of danger, the court heard. She was collected by males two or three times, the guardian believed she was being sexually exploited and also noted disclosures of abuse in her previous foster home.
A social worker told the court Tusla was working closely with gardaí concerning the allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation and acknowledged the girl had received threats to her life. There were not enough staff to operate unoccupied special care beds, the court heard. Tusla later secured a UK placement with a view to the girl returning to Ireland when aged 18.
Case study: Judge says three young siblings taken into care could have grounds to sue State for negligence
A lack of appropriate placements for three of five siblings taken into care was described by a judge as “unacceptable and appalling”.
The judge made a series of one-week extensions — rather than the normal 28 days — to interim care orders because of the lack of appropriate placements.
The father of the three older siblings was in jail in the UK, while the father of the younger two children was in Ireland. The mother had recently had another baby.
The two younger children were doing well in a placement in the west of Ireland.
The three older children, of primary school age, were originally in foster placements with relatives but that later broke down. All three were in various out-of-hours placements for four or five weeks before the court hearing but some of those placements had also broken down, necessitating further moves.
A solicitor for Tusla said the current out-of-hours placement for the three older children was due to end the following day and the agency was prioritising the identification of a bridging placement for them.
Solicitors for the children’s guardian and their mother said their situation was unacceptable and appalling. The mother’s solicitor said they were being bounced around multiple placements and were worried they would be separated. In their previous placements, there had been serious issues raised with Tusla that had not been addressed, the solicitor added.
The judge said the three older children were essentially homeless, it was “an outrage” they were being exposed to harm in the State’s care and they might have grounds for a future civil action against the State for negligence.
At a later hearing, the judge was told a new permanent placement had been identified for the three older children. The judge granted a 28-day extension of the interim care order with directions for further review and for plans to be prepared, including an access plan encompassing inter-sibling access, a parenting assessment for the mother and reunification.
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