Tusla must urgently consider a special care order for a 14-year-old boy in care who is missing after he had recently allegedly been detected driving a car the wrong way down a motorway, a judge has said.
At the Family Law Court, Judge Adrian Harris said the teenager’s behaviour is escalating while under the care of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, through a special care arrangement.
As the teenager is not subject to a special care order where he would be placed in a secure unit, he cannot be stopped from leaving his Tusla special care arrangement.
The appointed Tusla care worker said the teenager is currently missing and is believed to have taken a train to Dublin.
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Solicitor for the boy’s parents Mary Cuffe said the teenager has remained at the special care arrangement accommodation for only seven nights out of the last month.
When the boy was missing last month, members of a nine-strong team of gardaí tasked to secure his return found him hiding under a blanket in a wardrobe in a house.
After being returned to the special care accommodation, the teenager went missing again on July 2nd before gardaí confirmed he was found safe and well two weeks later.
The teenager’s court-appointed independent guardian ad litem told the court that when he heard about him allegedly driving a car the wrong way down a motorway, his view was “the situation is getting worse and heading towards special care territory. It needs to happen now and happen quickly.”
Harris said: “We are running out of options – the boy is missing as often as he remains in his accommodation.
“He is putting himself at risk, others at risk and now his own liberty is at risk.”
The judge said the social care worker in the case has told the court that Tusla is now considering a special care order in the case.
He said the case needs to be dealt with on an urgent basis, adjourning it to Tuesday, July 28th, for Tusla to present its proposals for a timeframe on a special care order application.
In April, Tusla secured an emergency care order after the teen “completely destroyed” his home in a row sparked over his mother refusing to return his mobile phone to him.
The teenager was initially a social admission by Tusla to a university hospital after the fuel protests in the spring prevented gardaí from transferring him to a hotel placement in Dublin.
The boy was going from hotel placement to hotel placement on a daily basis before Tusla secured the special care arrangement in May.
Harris extended the interim care order for the boy to July 28th.
