The State is paying millions each year to private, unregulated childcare placement businesses who are “making substantial profits out of a child-protection crisis”, a District Court judge has said.
It is “deeply concerning” to witness daily the level of “absolute crisis” the child protection system has reached, Judge Conor Fottrell said.
The continuing use of unregulated and unregistered special emergency arrangements for children in care is “a national scandal”, he said. “The system is not working, is broken and urgent intervention is required to protect our vulnerable at-risk children.”
The court was told the failure of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to comply with its statutory duty to protect children was due to there being no available placements, a shortage of qualified social workers and delays in accessing necessary support services and therapeutic interventions, he said.
He made the remarks in a judgment on Wednesday placing two boys, one of primary school age and the other a teenager, in interim care of the agency. The boys’ court-appointed guardian expressed serious concerns for their welfare, noting some 32 referrals of child protection concerns related to both.
The lack of placements means vulnerable at-risk children “who are exposed to trauma, neglect, abuse, substance misuse, domestic violence and educational disadvantage are left in these circumstances due to no alternative placement options available”, he said.
All those factors were present in the boys’ case, he said. The agency had “serious and fundamental questions” to answer about its handling of their case since October 2022, when a file was opened on them.
The family was known to the agency from 2007 due to concerns about parental drug use. Concerns were raised in 2022 for the older boy around inadequate home supervision, watching pornography on his phone and poor personal hygiene, with reference to having no hot water at home.
The younger boy was known to the agency from his birth. Referrals from his school in 2022 noted he was watching pornographic videos depicting murder and had poor personal hygiene, and concerns about his mother’s presentation at school.
A community referral in 2022 concerned the child wandering naked outside his home, crying for his mother and saying he was hungry. Concerns were expressed about the mother using crack cocaine, the home being filthy with no electricity and developmental delays for the boy, his being not toilet trained and only beginning to speak.
A concerned older sibling who lived elsewhere took both children from their home and placed them in early 2023 in the care of a woman relative who had children of her own, including children with health difficulties.
She expected the arrangement to be temporary but it continued as a private family arrangement for 21 months, with engagement from a family support worker and the Child and Family Agency.
The relative struggled to manage and the agency tried from autumn 2023 to find a foster placement for the boys. When unable to do so, it decided to make referrals for a residential placement.
Last October, the agency, supported by the boys’ guardian, sought interim care orders (ICOs) for both. The application was adjourned six times because no placement was available. On the first day of the recent hearing, the court was told a residential placement for both boys together had been identified.
The mother and the relative carer opposed the ICOs, arguing the boys should remain with the relative.
The judge was satisfied there was “reasonable cause” to believe the children had been ill-treated and neglected, primarily while residing with their mother. Given the significant challenges and difficulties they have faced, combined with their particular needs, he said he must grant the ICO application.
He appreciated his decision would be very difficult for the mother and relative carer but hoped they would understand it was in what he considered was the best interests of the children.
He said it was clear both women loved the children but the mother said she could not care for them at this time and hoped to get addiction treatment and be part of their lives in the future, and that the relative would continue to play a big part in their lives.
He also paid tribute to their older sibling for supporting and helping them.
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