Editorial: A child cannot be viewed as a problem that will go away

A 16-year-old girl was rushed to hospital last month after taking cocaine and fentanyl. The girl’s background was disruptive and dysfunctional: her mother had been sent to prison and the girl fell in with a bad crowd, resulting in the abuse of drink and drugs. Social services believed she was being sexually exploited by different adult men. She entered state care after gardaí found her in the home of a known sex offender, but she was going missing from her residential placement nearly every day.

The girl was seriously at risk and was clearly a candidate for special care, the system in place for children with profound behavioural issues, who would be considered a risk to themselves and others. The High Court agreed and ruled she should be admitted to special care.

Bizarrely, the judgment is being appealed – by the state agency responsible for improving the well-being and outcomes for children. Yes, you did read that correctly. Tusla, the child and family agency, is challenging mandatory orders and subsequent special care orders for an at-risk child.

The agency even accepts the girl requires special care but nevertheless contends the orders should be set aside. Why? Because there’s nowhere to put the girl. There are only 26 bed spaces in the special care system, but they can’t be filled due to a shortage of staff. The recruitment and retention problem is exacerbated by assaults on staff and a dispute over pay scales, remuneration and allowances.

Hence, a situation is developing where a guardian ad litem, a lawyer appointed to represent the interests of the child, will apply for a care order but the hearing is deliberately delayed by the State in the knowledge there is no place to send the child. So we have situations where children should be in special care but aren’t because the State is looking the other way.

A child at risk cannot be treated as a problem that will go away. Tusla is failing in its statutory responsibilities. Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman says he is aware of the increasing pressure to secure placements for children in care, up to and including special care.

He admits the problem is particularly acute in special care, where the children present with complex needs, and require higher supports, including staff resources. He says every effort is being made to support appropriate special care services in Ireland.

The minister talks about Tusla’s Strategic Plan for Residential Care Services for Children and Young People 2022-2025, published last year. But this is an immediate problem that negates policy formulation.

For quite some time now, there has been a suggestion that the Department of Children is overstretched due to the pressures of finding housing and services for refugees and asylum-seekers. The department has performed admirably in this area.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar talks loftily about making Ireland “the best country in Europe to be a child”. So surely vulnerable children must be a priority?

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