A teenager who was until recent weeks smoking three to four bags of heroin a day is now drug-free after spending some time detained in a secure State care unit, the High Court has heard.
Mr Justice John Jordan said the boy’s “extraordinary progress” in a matter of weeks is a “testament to what can be achieved” when children get a place in one of the State’s three “special care” units, which are deployed as a short-term therapeutic intervention to reduce a young person’s risk of harm.
The judge said he hopes the teenager, who is due to exit secure care soon, will continue to progress and be able to stay away from drugs while getting continuing support in the community.
Highly troubled and vulnerable children aged 11 to 17 can be detained in a special care unit on foot of a High Court order sought by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.
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However, a staffing crisis in the sector prevents Tusla from opening up all 26 of the places, meaning it cannot comply with all of the special care detention orders made by the High Court. The agency says public sector pay restrictions, set by Government departments, prevent it from offering attractive enough salaries for what is particularly challenging work.
The judge has been highly critical of the years-long crisis and Tusla’s noncompliance with his orders, calling it “unacceptable” and a “disgrace”.
The judge said he hoped the child and family agency would look at the progress achieved by this boy and compare it with the harm being caused to the at-risk children awaiting secure places. The boy’s own court-ordered admission to special care was delayed because the agency could not find a space for him.
Senior counsel for Tusla David Leahy said the boy wished he had longer in special care and wrote a letter expressing his thanks to the court for giving him another chance.
Mr Leahy said addiction services will help the boy when he is discharged and that plans are being arranged for his aftercare as he approaches adulthood.
Shane Costello SC, representing the teen’s court-appointed advocate, commended the special care staff and treating physicians who have done “exceptional” work.
Mr Costello said the boy is exhibiting an impressive level of maturity “now that he is sober and in a position of stability”. He is sleeping well, eating well, engaging with staff and “wants to remain drug-free”.
This is a “rather staggering contrast” to his presentation some five weeks ago when he was smoking three to four bags of heroin daily on the streets, he said.
The judge said he would list the case for a final review at the end of February.
This picture of positivity is rare in the High Court’s special care list and was juxtaposed by the case of another boy for whom “the criminal process has overtaken the special care process”.
Mr Costello, this time acting for Tusla, said the agency initially decided to apply for another special care order for him but, “regrettably”, will no longer do this as he is now detained on remand in prison with charges pending before the District and Circuit courts.
The court heard the youth has had “regrettable” associations with a woman who appears to perceive she has a mother-like role to play in his life. Gardaí had to be called after he absconded from his community placement and was later found in a hotel room abroad, said Mr Costello.
Mr Leahy, representing the boy’s mother in this case, said his client seems to have borne the brunt of “threats” from this woman, who “seems to want to supplant the mother’s role in [the teenager’s] life”.
He said the boy’s mother would have liked him to have been detained in special care for his safety and welfare, but things have moved on since he has been brought into custody and is protected there.
Counsel for the boy, Patricia Brazil, said: “As far as he is concerned he wants nothing to do with the child and family agency.”
The judge will review the case in a month.
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