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SUSAN DIED IN a tragic domestic accident at her own home when she was just 15 months old.
A report into her death has been released by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, as she had previously spent some time in the care of the State.
Authorities first became aware of the family when her mother, Kate, failed to return to pick her up from a childminder and could not be contacted.
At that juncture, the gardaí removed Susan from the minder’s care and she was placed with foster carers under an emergency order.
Susan was initially considered to be at ongoing risk of significant harm due to neglect but after months of working with the Social Work Department she was returned to her family.
The department considered that the parents – mother Kate and her partner – were capable of caring adequately for their child. They were also deemed willing to engage with support services.
A family support worker was allocated to them, and a place arranged for Susan in a community nursery. The case was waitlisted for allocation of a social worker but this was never achieved.
While Susan was observed to be making good progress over the following months and was
considered to have a good bond with her mother and her mother’s partner, it was also noted that Kate tended to disengage from services.
Kate withdrew Susan from the nursery, and the family support service was terminated due to lack of commitment and difficulty in identifying a role for the service.
No concerns were noted about Susan’s safety and welfare at the time.
She died as a result of a tragic domestic accident a few weeks later.
The review by the National Review Panel found no link between the nature and quality of services offered by the State and the “tragic and accidental death”.
But there were some concerns raised about the lack of a written plan in respect of Susan’s return home, as well as the “limited picture of the daily life of this family” available in the files.
“This limited the potential for reviewing her family’s compliance with the plan laid down by the SWD when she went home,” inspectors said.
They also noted that a more in-depth assessment of Susan’s relationship with her mother was warranted.
“Notwithstanding the above, appropriate services were put in place on Susan’s return to
her family,” the report continues.
“These finite community services were well-managed initially with the allocation of a social worker, an access worker, a family support worker, a community nursery place and the continuation of the public health nursing service. The reluctance of Susan’s parents to engage with the family support service and the nursery limited their positive impact.”
The chair of the review panel, Dr Helen Buckley, said there was one recommendation that has national relevance following the learnings from the incident.
“Child safety programmes and advice provided by child protection and welfare practitioners should be reviewed in line with emerging evidence about accidents to children in the home,” she told the State.
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A child born and left this world without ever getting a chance of normality . Very sad indeed. I hope her death was at least pain free and she’s at peace now .
Do go on Maggie,
Tell us what you know about this case…
Piss off Paul, obv that the child was in a bad situation. You keep chasing the red thumbs though, it’s honorable work
Shut up you f***ing moron!!!
I don’t understand why carers of children deemed at risk are allowed to just disengage with services and no one seems to follow that up; surely that would be a sign that more vigilance is needed? (I appreciate that wasn’t the cause of the little one’s death here but it could be in others).
RIP little Susan
With cases like this where the parents initially seem willing but then withdraw or are “unwilling to use the social services available to them”, what should happen to the child?
I understand that the article explicitly says she died from a tragic domestic accident, so I’m assuming it was in fact just that ie an accident. But this case seemed like an accident waiting to happen?
Rip little Susan why is the name of her dad not mentioned and her relationship with him who i assime is the mothers “partner” its very clear from that article she should only have been sent home in limited circumstances
You need a licence for a dog, but any tosser can have a child.
You need a licence for a dog but any tosser can neglect, mistreat and abuse a child and nothing is done. If a child is taken into care because the parents have not looked after that child the parents should be locked up for child abuse.
Many of these poor children are destined for drug abuse and criminality from the start. Unfortunately no amount of social support can improve the outlook for many of these children. Social services have immensely difficult jobs and do their best. It’s sad the number of couples waiting to adopt that could have given this child an amazing life.
Scanty enough facts there. The names aren’t given so why not provide more detail?
have your say