MULTIPLE JUDGES HAVE said they are “in despair” at the ongoing lack of care beds for children, according to the Child Law Project. 

One High Court judge described the shortage as “a tsunami about to reach shore and nothing is being done”. 

The Child Law Project has published its latest and final volume of case reports as its three-year contract with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is set to expire in October. 

The 70 case studies in the new volume from the project highlight the challenge of providing appropriate care placements, allocated social workers and support services for children in care, it said. 

Of the 70 case reports, 67 are from the District Court, and there is one each from the Supreme Court, Circuit Court and High Court.

The shortage of appropriate care placements in foster care, residential care, and special care, “dominates” this volume of reports, the project said in a statement.

Reports

There are a number of cases where there was concern that a child was being sexually exploited and the level of support in their current care placement was not sufficient to ensure their safety and address the risks, the report found. 

Proceedings where children in care had no allocated social worker for extended periods of time, which is contrary to national policy, are also included in this volume. 

It also includes cases involving children from migrant families and unaccompanied minors, who are often fleeing war.

In one individual report, it was alleged that a teenage girl who had the cognitive ability of a ten-year-old had been raped while in the care of the Child and Family Agency, otherwise known as Tusla. The girl had been in the care of Tusla since she was a young child. 

There were also suggestions that she was being sexually trafficked throughout the country. The girl had been in a private residential arrangement, but the girl’s guardian ad litem (a person appointed to represent a child’s wishes and feelings to the court) advised that she was in need of a special care placement that would permit her to be detained. 

Though she was approved for special care, a social worker told the court that there were not enough staff to operate the unoccupied beds. 

The judge said that though this was the third case before him with similar circumstances, it was “the worst case [he] had ever come across.”

“This is nothing short of shocking, this girl was referred to special care, approved for special care, the High Court made a special care order, and she is in a private residential unit that is not keeping her safe,” he said. 

“It beggars belief that in 2024 this would come before a court.”

Commenting on the reports, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance Tanya Ward said that “wrangling over pay for the staff needed for special car arrangements has to end”.

She said that pay is currently impacting Tusla’s ability to attract and retain qualified staff to carry out the work.

She said that the Children’s Rights Alliance is particularly concerned for the welfare of approximately 70 to 80 children.

“This is a small group of children, but they need a stepped-up approach from Tusla and other support services,” she said. “Budget 2025 cannot fail children in care.”

The full volume of case reports are available here.