‘Loneliest girl in the world’ in State care awaits placement funds

A teenager in State care living in an “inappropriate residential unit” has been waiting since October to hear whether approval will be given to fund her move to a private placement, the Dublin District Family Court has been told.

Previously described by the Child and Family Agency as "the loneliest girl in the world" because of her lack of family, the teenager was distressed because she was aware she could not stay in her current placement, but did not know when or where she would be moved.

The case had been adjourned to Tuesday from December 5th to ascertain whether funding for a private placement had been approved.

The solicitor for the girl’s court-appointed guardian said the girl was not suitable for mainstream care because of her behavioural difficulties, but had been refused special care.

He said the social worker could not seek a private placement for the girl until funding was approved. He suggested the case be brought back to court before Christmas for a funding update.

Father identified

The court was also told the teenager had been given some good news – her father had been positively identified through a DNA test and he was open to meeting her.

The solicitor for the agency said approval had been given “in principle” for the funding, but it had not yet been “signed off on”. It was “Christmas week” and there were no private providers who would look for placements at this stage. She suggested the case should come back to court in the first week of January.

Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlacháin said she knew Christmas came earlier every year, but things weren’t shutting down yet.

She said it was “only Tuesday” and if the funding came through on Tuesday, private providers should be available to examine the application.

A child who was experiencing the difficulties of the child in this case, “could not be left indefinitely, not knowing where she is going”, the judge said. She adjourned the case to Friday.

Separately, the judge extended an interim care order for two girls who were beginning to ask why their mother was “sleepy and dozy” when she came to access visits.

The girls’ court-appointed guardian said the children were happy with their foster family, described as a “very warm and loving home”, but had raised concerns about their mother and recently called her “a junkie”.

The girls’ social worker said a childcare worker would begin helping the children in January, including working on their life story and explaining about drugs.

Access to memo

In another case, Judge Ní Chúlacháin agreed to give a couple whose children had been taken into care access to a memo written by the judge who made the order. The couple are challenging the order at the High Court.

Their counsel said Judge Brendan Toale had made the order, taking the children into care until the age of 18 on November 26th, but he had not given reasons why he made it and the parents were at a loss to understand the "momentous decision".

They are seeking a judicial review of the decision at the High Court, and that court had said it would be “of assistance” to have the judge’s handwritten memo. A transcript of the court’s digital audio recording is also to be made available.