A child born to a teenager in care is to remain in care until his mother is 21 next year, a judge at the Dublin District Family Court has ruled.
Judge Marie Quirke said the mother needed to "grow up" and "get real". Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, had sought to keep the boy in care until he was aged 18.
The child’s mother was living in a State residential unit when the boy was born. Her own mother had been a long-term drug user and died at a young age.
The boy was cared for by his mother for almost two years, including in an aftercare centre when she became an adult.
A social worker told the judge there had been increasing concerns about the mother when the aftercare centre where she lived had reported incidents, including her failure to return at night and her alcohol use.
On one occasion she staggered in the door with her son, who had a soiled nappy, the court was told.
On another she brought the baby to a “violent party” to which gardaí were called. The baby was found asleep on a mattress.
Under the influence
In mid-2013, gardaí found her down a lane at 8.30pm with her baby. She was “under the influence” and “with white foam on her mouth”, the social worker said. The baby was “teary-eyed and overexposed to the sun”, with a rash on the front and back of his neck.
Gardaí said it had been a particularly hot day, the social worker said, and there were no care items, nappies or sun cream for the baby.
The baby was taken into emergency care and the young mother took part in drug rehabilitation and counselling.
She never missed access visits and had been drug-free for a prolonged period. Plans were well under way to return the boy to her when she relapsed.
A clinical psychologist said the mother was intelligent and her knowledge of parenting was not an issue.
There was no problem with her ability to parent when she was completely drug-free, but she had “huge overoptimism” and had come off methadone too quickly.
“She came right to the brink of regaining her son and wasn’t able to stay substance-free,” she said. “The stakes were as high as they’ll ever be and that wasn’t enough.”
The child’s court-appointed guardian said the mother had a “lovely natural and caring bond” with her son, but it was in the best interests of the child that he remains in care to the age of 18.
Eczema
The mother told the judge she had only gone down the lane in the mid-2013 incident in order to find her sibling. Her son was not sunburned on that occasion but had eczema, she said.
She believed she could “get clean again” and wanted to go back to school.
She acknowledged her son needed stability, but said a care order to age 18 was “just going overboard”.
In her judgment, the judge said the care order hearing was “conducted in the nature of an inquiry”, that the burden of proof was on the agency and the standard was “on the balance of probabilities”.
She said the social work team impressed her as “genuinely committed” to the mother and child, but she was “not convinced at all” that the order sought by the agency was necessary and proportionate.
She made a care order until next year, “when the mother will have turned 21”.
The mother “must now grow up, take responsibility, act her age, get real and take on her responsibilities both to herself and her child”, she said.
“She must do this immediately with no delay.”
