Report examines 19 child care law cases

The first report of the second phase of the Child Care Law Reporting Project’s (CCLRP) work has been published online today.

It examines 19 cases, including ones dealing with the provision of psychiatric services for children in secure care, the withdrawal of a Care Order application after 29 days of hearing, and the presence of parents with significant intellectual disabilities in child care proceedings.

The CCLRP publishes regular reports from the courts which make orders under the Child Care Act, collecting and analysing data from the proceedings and reporting on their nature and outcomes.

Dr Carol Coulter, CCLRP director, said: “This second phase combines continued reporting on child care cases with in-depth research into a number of very lengthy and complex cases, which have sometimes taken up dozens of court days spread over several months.

“We hope we can learn from these cases how to improve child care proceedings for children and their families.”

In one case examined in the latest report, the High Court approved a protocol between the Child and Family Agency and the HSE which will see the provision of a psychiatrist for one day a week in three special care units, amounting to three-fifths of a full-time psychiatrist.

This followed a number of hearings where the court was told of the lack of adequate therapeutic support for some of the children who have psychiatric problems when they come into secure units.

Another case saw a District Court judge rule that he did not have jurisdiction to refuse or allow the Child and Family Agency to withdraw an application for Care Orders for two children after 29 days of hearing. This had the effect of ending the application, leaving the children free to go home. This followed an unsuccessful application from the CFA to have the proceedings adjourned.

In another case, Care Orders were granted for the five youngest children of a family of 18 where the father was at the bottom 0.3 per cent of the population in terms of intellectual ability. A psychologist gave evidence of his inability, and that of his wife, to understand what was required of them in order to parent their children.

A similar care saw Care Orders made for two teenage children whose mother suffered from a significant intellectual disability and also from mental illness.