Boy in need of care, court is told

A young boy who has Attention Deficit Disorder and no parental support has been in a State detention centre since March. He will have to remain there several months more because there is no place for him at Ballydowd special care unit.

At the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Kelly was told there would be no places at Ballydowd before September at the earliest and it could be several months after that before the 13-year-old boy got a place.

Only eight of Ballydowd's 24 beds are operational due to staff recruitment problems and other difficulties. It is hoped another eight beds will become available from September and there is already a waiting list of troubled children for those beds. It is not clear when the third eight bed unit will open.

The 13-year-old boy is in the care of the Northern Area Health Board. He was allegedly sexually abused in the past and has been described as utterly alone in the world, with no parental involvement in his care for some time.

His father had indicated no interest in him and his mother had left the country in October 2000. Outside of a telephone call to her son on his birthday, she has made no contact other than leaving a telephone message for a social worker indicating she had received a report on her son's situation.

The boy has been in the State detention centre since March, having been sent there following a controversial placement in a unit operated by a private company.

After an initial unsettled period at the State centre during which the boy experienced bullying from other inmates, he was said to have settled down but to be very anxious to know when he would be moved to Ballydowd. He has been accepted for a place there but was on a waiting list with seven other children.

A consultant psychiatrist and a forensic psychologist yesterday stressed the boy required a secure place where he would receive therapeutic supports and consistent care from the same people over a long period. Both recommended the boy should be placed in Ballydowd as soon as possible.

Mr Barry O'Donnell, for the NAHB, said while they could not say when a place would be available, the board was very committed to this child and would do all it could.

Mr Justice Kelly said he was again in the not unusual position of being forced to send a boy with no criminal convictions to a detention centre designed for children involved with the criminal law. He had no other option. He noted the doctors who assessed the boy had said he showed promise.

The judge said he would make every effort to have the boy moved to Ballydowd as soon as possible. He adjourned the case for further review in August.