A JUDGE HAS granted an emergency care order concerning an “out of control” teen who snapped at home last week in a row with his mother over unwashed clothing.
At a sitting of the Family Law Court, Judge Marie Keane granted the emergency care order to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, in relation to the teenager.
He was admitted to a children’s ward at a major hospital over the weekend as Tusla had nowhere else to place him.
There is nothing medically wrong with the teen and social worker, Suzanne O’Gorman, told the court the boy was a “social admission” to the hospital.
After hearing evidence of the disturbance at the family home last Thursday, Judge Keane said: “He is clearly out of control.”
She said: “This young man is in the children’s ward. I can’t comment on the safety of the other children in the ward.”
O’Gorman said Tusla is liaising with the hospital and others on securing alternative accommodation for the boy.
The teen appeared before a sitting of the Children’s Court last Wednesday and, in spite of an undertaking given to the child and family agency, the boy’s mother allowed her address be used in an application for bail for the teen.
However, O’Gorman said the following day the boy’s mother called the gardaí as a result of an altercation that took place involving the boy at the family home.
O’Gorman told the court: “I understand that the mother and her son got into an argument over unwashed clothes and her son became quite violent in the family home. He damaged property in the family home.
He smashed the upstairs bathroom sink. He broke a window in the downstairs kitchen. He broke the back door.
Gardaí were called to the home twice and the gardaí on duty invoked Section 12 of the Childcare Act which compelled Tusla to seek an emergency care order for the teen as gardaí believe there is an immediate and serious risk to the health and welfare of the child.
Foster family
The boy was placed with a foster family on Thursday as there were no family options for the boy to be placed.
On the first evening with the foster family, the boy temporarily absconded and gardaí picked him up and brought him back to the foster family.
O’Gorman said the boy presented further difficulties on Friday where he
obtained some utensils, including a chisel, and attempted to damage the foster carer’s lawn mower.
She said: “The foster carer reported that he was becoming more difficult to contain and very agitated. We felt that this was not a suitable care option for the boy and he himself absconded at 5.45pm on Friday.”
Serious risk
O’Gorman said that the boy returned and presented at his mother’s home and she refused to let him stay, calling the gardaí.
O’Gorman said: “Gardaí invoked another Section 12 and he was placed in the children’s ward in the hospital.” She added that the boy cannot be cared for by his mother and said that there is a serious risk to his welfare if an emergency care order is not provided.
“We have ongoing difficulty in relation to a placement for the boy. The local residential services is not in position to cater for his needs,” O’Gorman said.
She said that funding is in place and an application is before Central Residential Services that will locate a private placement for the boy.
This requires a lot of paperwork that we have been gathering over the past few days but they are not in a position to provide an emergency placement.
O’Gorman said that the boy’s mother told the CFA that she is not in a position to attend court.
Judge Keane said the teen was told last week that bail would be revoked if there was any breach and the boy would be placed in Oberstown Children Detention Campus.
She said: “I am not satisfied that the bail issue has not been brought before the court and this is to occur forthwith and that is to happen to his gentleman.”
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