Latest news with #MrJusticeJohnJordan
Irish Times
01-08-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Teen who left care and lost follow-on housing tried to take their own life, court hears
A teenager with a personality disorder who left special care recently has lost their follow-on accommodation is using drugs, facing criminal charges, has been stabbed and has attempted to take their own life, the High Court heard. The case, one of 15 involving the most at-risk children and young people in or just out of special care, illustrated why mental health legislation 'should be looked at again', said Mr Justice John Jordan on Thursday. UK legislation would allow that the young adult be detained for treatment, whereas in Ireland they must consent, he said. The court heard the young person had been in special care – the most secure form of care where children at serious risk may be detained by the High Court for their own or the community's safety – for a number of years until the day before their 18th birthday. They had a diagnosed personality disorder – which is not recognised for involuntary admission to a psychiatric institution. An assessment before leaving special care concluded the teenager had capacity. READ MORE Aftercare went well initially but the young adult 'is making decisions which unfortunately were entirely predicted ... but ... making them as a capacitous adult,' said Paul Gunning, barrister for Tusla. Brian Barrington, for the guardian ad litem, a court-appointed independent advocate for the young person, said the teenager was 'on a bleak trajectory' having stabbed themself and been 'stabbed by others' in recent weeks. Shane Costello, for parents, said their child had been discharged without an assigned adult psychiatrist and still had no 'treating adult psychiatrist'. A GP had stopped prescribing antipsychotic medication due to the young person's illicit drug use. 'In summary it's fair to say bleak doesn't quite describe the situation ... [The parents] are distraught. They don't know what more they can do.' Alan Brady, for the HSE, said the executive did not know how 'adding a psychiatrist' would 'assist' where a GP had stopped prescribing medication. 'The Mental Health Act very explicitly excludes detention in that [psychiatric] system for a person with a personality disorder.' The situation underscored the difference between Irish and UK mental health legislation, said Mr Justice Jordan. He was not saying UK legislation was better. 'There is nothing that can be done without [the teenager's] consent, whereas in the UK that would not be so ... The legislation should be looked at again ... because this is happening on this list time and again. ' A teenager for whom a special care order was made two weeks ago remains unable to access a bed. Sarah McKechnie, for Tusla, said the teenager had left hospital, having been admitted after an overdose last week. It was a 'matter of extreme urgency' that the child gets a bed, the court heard. No bed was likely until August 25th. Their parents have issued proceedings against Tusla for alleged failings in their child's care. 'It is completely unsatisfactory the order is not complied with,' said Mr Justice Jordan. 'This young [child] should be in special care and would be if [Tusla] had complied with the order that they applied for and got in this court.' The parents of a young teenager missing from special care since last weekend are 'tremendously concerned', said barrister Donal Ó Muircheartaigh. 'They feel [the child] doesn't have a phone ... doesn't have money. Given the previous concerns around exploitation, they have significant worries in that regard.' The judge said the parents had a 'legitimate complaint' that they were not told their child was missing for more than 24 hours 'not least because they may be able to assist in locating [the child] if they know when [they] goes missing'.
Irish Times
28-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Inside crisis-hit special care: ‘They are not monsters. They are ordinary kids that have gone through difficult things'
It was an 'affront to the rule of law', said Mr Justice John Jordan in the High Court recently, that beds were not available for three vulnerable children in need of immediate placements in the special care system. One of the three without a place in the most secure form of care was a teenager who was 'free falling' and whose father believed would die without a place. Another was a self-harming child who attempted suicide after being 'drawn into a life of criminality' and had been 'subjected to sexual exploitation'. Children and young people deemed to be at such a risk to themselves, or others, as to need therapeutic residential care may be detained in this system by order of the court. READ MORE Mr Justice Jordan, who hears the weekly special care list, was told only 14 of Tusla 's 26 special care beds were open – down from 15 weeks earlier. Today, 15 are operating. He described the system as being 'in crisis', adding: 'This dysfunctional system is getting worse. It is an indictment of the State that those special care beds are not available.' Mr Justice John Jordan oversees the special care list in the High Court. Photograph: Áras an Uachtaráin As recently as June 19th, Mr Justice Jordan said it was like 'winning the All-Ireland' to hear, for the first time in more than six months, every child with a special care order had a placement. Last Thursday, however, the 'no beds' list section was back. The parents of a vulnerable teenager said they were 'at their wits end' due to no placement being available for their child despite an order being granted the previous week. There were 'significant concerns' for the child who was described as being suicidal and had 'overdose tendencies', said Sarah McKechnie, barrister for Tusla. 'It is my understanding a bed won't be available until in or around August 25th.' In an online post, the child's mother said the teenager was in hospital following a suicide attempt – the latest of many. She said she would refuse to allow the discharging of her child from hospital in an attempt to keep them safe. Special care remains in the spotlight as a system in crisis. There are 26 beds across three centres, but they have never all been in operation. One of the centres, Coovagh House, is in Limerick. The other two are in Dublin – Ballydowd in Lucan and Crannóg Nua in Portrane. The Crannóg Nua special care unit for minors in Portrane, Co Dublin. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien The numbers involved are small; just 0.2 per cent of the 5,761 children in care need special care. However, the service attracts trenchant criticism for its limitations given the risks faced by those who need it. Tusla, arguing in 2023 for higher pay rates to recruit more special care workers, told the Department of Children 'the current crisis in ... capacity has the potential to lead to a fatal outcome for a child who cannot access special care'. In recent weeks, The Irish Times was granted unprecedented media access to the largest special care unit, Crannóg Nua. Adjacent to the St Ita's Hospital campus, and behind 20-foot high fences, the facility is bright and modern, located on a landscaped campus. However, just five of the 12 beds are open. During the visit, social care workers, kitchen staff, the on-campus school principal and management talk about how the facility works. There were glimpses of three children, all of whom were calm, during and between activities with their support workers. A notice board in the dining area of Crannóg Nua special care unit for minors in Portrane, Co Dublin. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Once an order is made, gardaí get involved to 'ensure [the child is] brought safely to the service', says Tusla. Each child has an en suite single-bedroom – which they may personalise with posters or photos – though there is little to no privacy. They are locked into bedrooms at 10.30pm and can be checked on through a hatch, explains Aisling Byrne, social care leader. She shows the common area, laundry room and kitchenette. Dotted around are safety pods – industrial-strength beanbags on to which children are brought when being restrained. An innovation of Crannóg Nua, the pods have reduced injuries to children and staff given restraint used to mean two staff bringing a child by force to the ground. The school at the heart of the campus is led by Jacqui McCarron. She shows small classrooms where the Junior Certificate curriculum is followed, including art, woodwork, home economics, PE and core academic subjects. Jacqui McCarron, principal of the school at Crannóg Nua special care unit, stands next to a 'cubbie' unit, a multi-sensory calming booth. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien 'We have the opportunity to work intensively with them, see what's working,' she says. 'They make progress and that is powerful for their self-esteem. You wouldn't believe how much completing the Junior Cert means to them. It is probably the only academic success they will ever have.' The profile of the children is undeniably difficult, says William O'Rourke, assistant national director of alternative care. Typical histories include 'self harm and suicidality, substance misuse, sexual exploitation, violence or aggression towards and from others, property damage, mental health presentation and antisocial or criminal behaviour'. 'We are seeing more and more sexual exploitation, emerging mental health issues, emerging personality disorders,' he says. Special care offers intensive therapeutic interventions during a total break from the child's environment. William O'Rourke, Tusla's assistant national director for alternative care. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien 'Their lives may be so chaotic in the community and they don't actually see this until they come in and stabilise,' says O'Rourke. 'We can see what's happening to them truly when they come to a service like this. 'Take the risks away and you are then dealing with the person. It may be the first time they are being seen for who they are, and not just as them in their circumstances.' He adds that 'the kids generally settle within days' and engage with staff and education and develop positive relationships. 'It is a really positive intervention when you remove the risk and hopefully identify what they need.' From 2013 to the end of last year there were 269 admissions to special care, some of which were repeat. The annual high was 33 children in 2014. Last year there were 14 – seven boys and seven girls. There has been no longitudinal study on long-term outcomes of the system, O'Rourke says, though one is 'being commissioned' by the Department of Children. Crannóg Nua staff have an optimistic yet realistic approach. 'There is no quick fix,' says Oisin Mulchrone, deputy social care manager. 'They are coming from very challenging circumstances, some with family dynamics that are probably quite entrenched in challenges. It is hard to move away from that.' Mulchrone says he 'couldn't imagine working anywhere else'. Oisin Mulchrone, deputy social care manager, at the sticker-festooned door of a service user's bedroom at Crannóg Nua. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien 'You see young people moving on and you want to see them doing well. People do this because they want to make a difference for the young people. It's not for the faint-hearted sometimes, but the good greatly outweighs the bad.' For James (18) special care was 'probably the calmest time' in his life, says his mother Martha (not their real names). By the time an order was made, James, who was 15 at the time, had more than 35 care placements in the preceding four months. Explaining his background, Martha says James was a 'clingy' and anxious toddler. He was diagnosed with ADHD at six. 'He had no friends . . . He had an SNA (special needs assistant) from junior infants to fifth class.' While in fifth class, James was expelled. His parents tried home schooling but his behaviour deteriorated. He was violent towards his siblings and parents. An incident at home resulted in gardaí being called and his parents reluctantly agreed to voluntary care. 'We thought he would finally get the help he needed,' says Martha. Unable to find a foster placement due to his behaviour, Tusla contracted private providers to accommodate James in what are known as unregulated special emergency arrangements (SEAs). 'He was shipped around B&Bs, hotels, holiday homes. He spent nights in Garda stations, hospitals, care-staff's cars,' says Martha. 'He could be in Drogheda one night and the next night in Cork. He could be three nights there and then to Monaghan.' She added: 'There was no stability, no care plan. He was being transported in taxis, his belongings in black plastic bags, living on takeaways.' In his final weeks in SEAs, James was 'out of control', she says. 'He ransacked his placements; broke into staff cars; there were altercations with the guards. He accumulated criminal charges at this time too, something he never had before going into care.' Before entering special care, James was assessed by a social worker with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS). She noted: 'Difficulty in engaging [him] at a time of extreme distress . . . significant recent trauma in number of recent placement moves and removal from family home likely to explain significant dysregulation at this time'. The gymnasium at Crannóg Nua special care unit for minors in Portrane. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Special care was the last option for James, says Martha, and agreeing to it was 'very distressing'. 'It took [James] about 12 to 16 weeks to settle. He was full of frustration, stripped of all liberties, feeling punished. He was there more than two years. Staff didn't just see a case file or a troubled teen, they saw him – his fears, his humour, intelligence and his pain. 'They set boundaries but also built trust day by day. They listened when he spoke, even when his words came out in anger. He slowly began to trust them back.' Leaving special care was tumultuous, with aftercare planning ad hoc. James was initially offered only homeless services, but the morning he was to leave his family was told a city centre apartment with security-guards was available. He remains without access to HSE adult psychiatric care. His health has deteriorated, he lost the apartment and has slept rough. Martha is hoping he will be provided with an after-care placement. Tusla said it could not comment on an individual case but that SEAs were used when 'a regulated emergency placement is unavailable, and an immediate place of safety is required for a young person'. Their use has declined – from 170 children last December to 57 at present. Where a child spends 'an extended period' in a SEA, 'there is increased oversight of the arrangement with additional supports'. James's case epitomises problems in the wider care system that lead to 'additional pressure' on special care, says Terry Dignam, co-founder of Children's Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association. He points to an 'ongoing crisis in CAMHS', the decreasing availability of foster carers, a lack of residential placements, an 'over-reliance' on private providers and that almost 100 high-support beds were 'stripped out of the system' in 2014. 'We need far more early supports for families. If we had a properly functioning care system, with high-support beds to take in some of the kids falling into crisis, we wouldn't have such a reliance on special care,' he says. 'We would have fewer children escalating to that level because we would have the interventions earlier.' The key obstacle to opening all 26 beds, says Mark Smith, Tusla's director of special care services, is recruiting and retaining staff in what is seen as the toughest job in social care. To have 20 beds open, five more than the current 15, would require 35 additional staff, he says. Opening all 26 would require an additional 77. There are currently 110 whole-time equivalent (WTE) social care staff in the three units. A classroom in the Crannóg Nua school. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien The sanctioning of a new grade of special care worker last year was 'a significant victory for Tusla', Smith says. The top pay rate on this grade is €68,169, on a 23-point scale closer aligned with that at the Oberstown child detention campus. Two new staff are employed on this grade, with five at 'varying stages of recruitment', underlining continuing difficulties. Staff retention is improving, however. In the year to May, it stood at 84 per cent, up from 76 per cent a year earlier. Solving the special care crisis, says Dignam, is not only up to Tusla, which 'gets a lot of flack'. It will require 'substantial investment' by the several agencies, including the HSE, across the system, the reopening of high-support beds, and 'vastly' improving CAMHS and adult mental health services. Special care work is 'a great job if you commit to it', says O'Rourke. 'It's a job that's very, very rewarding. You see the young people here. They are not demons. They are not monsters. They are ordinary kids that have gone through some really difficult things.'
Irish Times
19-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Judge hails special care progress as ‘no beds' list drops to zero
It was like 'winning the All-Ireland' to know every child in crisis who needed a secure care bed had one, a High Court judge has said. For the 'first time' in more than six months there was no 'no beds' list, said Mr Justice John Jordan on Thursday as he opened his court. Mr Justice Jordan hears cases of children who, for their own safety or that of others, need to be detained by order in secure care, also known as special care. His weekly sitting reviews updates on children in special care and Tusla applications for special care orders in respect of children about whom it has serious concerns. READ MORE Though 26 special care beds exist in three units, just 16 are operational due to staff shortages, leading to children in respect of whom orders have been made being left without beds. Their cases are included on the 'no beds' list. 'For the first time in a long time, six months-plus, absent from the list is the 'no beds' section,' said the judge. It meant 'all the special care order are now effective – not before time'. 'I want to credit those who have achieved [what some weeks ago it seemed] might be impossible. I am not quite sure how it has been achieved but I am hoping this situation will be maintained ... It something I have been hoping for, for a long period. It's right up there with winning the All-Ireland.' He did 'not want to see a 'no bed' section on the list again. I want to see the situation which is now existing maintained.' He hoped he was 'not tempting fate', he said. [ Hundreds of children waiting more than a year to access mental health services Opens in new window ] A girl who entered special care 'as a very damaged young person' and who left recently was doing 'very, very well', the court heard. She is now in aftercare, and Tusla was working 'extremely hard' to ensure a horse with whom she had a strong therapeutic relationship could move with her. The judge said Tusla 'deserves credit' and agreed the horse must be accessible to the girl. 'In this list equine therapy has frequently proved more beneficial than the other interventions or therapies provided to children. 'This is one very clear illustration of the benefits of involvement in horses for children – because of the success of involvement between [the girl and the horse] it is important that this situation continue.' In the case of a 17-year-old boy who will have to leave special care on reaching 18, Tusla remains unable to identify an onward placement. The boy has set fires in his unit and remains 'anxious' about what will happen when he reaches his majority, the court heard. Of 15 potential private aftercare providers identified, none was 'in a position to offer a place', said counsel for Tusla. There was a lack of clarity as to whether he had a borderline or mild intellectual disability. The latter will entitle him to adult HSE disability services. Counsel for his grandmother said she was 'very concerned as to what the future holds'. 'She is ... anxious that he receives the benefit of every service and input that can be given to him ... She wants the throw the kitchen sink at this to give [him] every opportunity and chance at life as he turns 18,' the court heard. Listing the case for July 10th, Mr Justice Jordan said he wanted 'to know more about the mild vs borderline discussion and the consequences of either in terms of services available'.
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- Irish Times
Boy (16) with drug debt and at risk of death ‘very aggrieved' about detention in secure care, court hears
A teenage boy said to be 'at real risk of death' but 'very aggrieved' at being detained in secure care for his own safety, assaulted two staff members on admission to the unit, the High Court heard on Tuesday. The 16-year-old, who had amassed a €1,000 drug-debt and was told 'war' would be declared if he did not pay, was taken by gardaí to secure care, known as 'special care', on June 5th on foot of a short-term High Court order. The court had heard the boy, who has been in State care since 2023, had not been staying in his placement and was 'effectively' residing with his father. Six shots were fired at two of his friends as they left his father's house on a date in the spring. One was hit and not seriously injured, but the boy was the intended target, according to gardaí. READ MORE On Tuesday Mr Justice John Jordan heard the boy insisted he was not the shooting's intended target. He 'does not want to be in special care [and] doesn't believe he should be', the court heard. Barrister Paul Gunning, for Tusla , said things went 'badly' in the first days of the boy's admission. He assaulted two staff members, fracturing the nose of one and biting another. 'It has been a difficult start to this child's time in special care. He did apologise afterwards. He does seem very aggrieved to be in special care,' said Mr Gunning, who sought an order for the boy to be detained in special care for a further three months. Children at risk of serious harm can be detained for their safety on foot of a High Court order in one of the State's special care units. The court heard the boy's parents did not believe their son needed special care. [ Tusla's failure to provide secure care beds for children at risk an 'affront to rule of law', judge says Opens in new window ] Counsel for his mother, who is in hospital for a recurring condition, said she believes her son was 'managing far better in recent times'. He was attending school every Friday, applying for jobs and was hopeful of a position in a discount retailer. The boy calls her daily from his unit and 'is quite disconsolate about his plight', particularly as he is unable to visit her in hospital, the court heard. 'She does appreciate that the social work department have their concerns', but she feels her son 'has done absolutely nothing wrong and he shouldn't be punished by being confined in special care'. She would like him to be there 'for the shortest possible time', the court heard. 'He feels safe in his father's house and would like to go home,' the court heard. The boy's father said he believes the shooting was a case of mistaken identity and the guards were mistaken. The boy's guardian ad litem – an independent person appointed by the court to be the voice of the child – supported Tusla's application for a three-month order. [ Replace secure special care units with one 'centre of excellence', Tusla told Opens in new window ] Granting the order, Mr Justice Jordan said it was 'appropriate'. 'I am not quite sure what the explanation for the different views concerning the threats to [the boy] are, and I expect this issue will be explored and developed between now and the first statutory review [on July 10th] at which stage the views of the Garda Síochána can be obtained.' It is 'likely' there was 'considerable pressure' on the boy and his parents 'if there is a drug debt. Or it may transpire to be, as suggested by [the boy] ... a case of mistaken identity or a misunderstanding. I do wonder about that,' the judge said.
