THE FAMILY of a teenager who died while in State care has accused health authorities of trying to cover up a series of failures in the standard of care made available to him.
David Foley, from Clondalkin in Dublin, died three years ago at the age of 17 from a suspected drug overdose.
He had voluntarily sought care from the State at the age of 14 and was admitted to a series of emergency hostels for homeless teens, know as the “out-of-hours system”.
Professionals familiar with his case said he never received more suitable forms of care, such as family support, which could have allowed him to live at home or in his community.
His case has been the subject of an internal Health Service Executive (HSE) investigation which has never been published.
Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews is understood to have received the report several months ago. A spokesperson was unavailable to say whether he intends to make the findings known.
Speaking publicly for the first time, the boy’s sister, Lynda Foley, said his family has been kept in the dark regarding an investigation into his care and was only aware that a report had been completed following an article in The Irish Times.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we, as a family, haven’t been told anything about what happened to David. We weren’t involved in the report, we were never interviewed or told it had been completed. We’ve never been asked for our opinion,” she said.
“They haven’t admitted responsibility for anything . . . if a parent isn’t doing their job properly, the HSE is quick to point the finger. But when the HSE itself is the parent, there’s no one to take the blame. I don’t understand how they can go around pointing the finger at parents when it’s doing such a bad job. I don’t think anyone will ever be held responsible.”
Social workers familiar with the case say the boy should never have been admitted into the “out-of-hours” hostel system, a largely unstructured form of care. Many children who have passed through the system have ended up involved in drugs and crime, while several of these young people have died of drug overdoses in recent years.
Professionals who knew the boy say a dispute between two community care areas over who was responsible for looking after David resulted in a critical delay in finding more appropriate care for him.
Ms Foley said the family had mounting concerns for his welfare during the three years he spent in the care system. “There was a lot of things coming to a head for David when he went into care. At the time, he was being bullied at school and I think he had ADHD and there were other things on his plate he was running away from.
“But in the care system, he, along with the others, would basically be kicked out of the hostels during the day with no money, spending eight or nine hours on the streets and nothing to fill their time. It’s no surprise that young people would get into trouble,” she said. “When he went into care at 14, he had never been in trouble with the law. He came in an innocent boy and ended up on tablets, hanging out on the boardwalk, getting into trouble. If that was my child, I’d be liable for that.
“He had a very vulnerable side to him. People who knew him well and the careworkers saw that. But he lost that innocence very quickly in the care system. It was almost overnight.”
Mr Andrews told the Dáil late last year that, while not pre-empting the report, it was clear the boy had been failed by the health authorities and that it was unacceptable that an investigation should take several years to complete.
“When a child dies in the care of the State, there is no question that he has been failed in some way. Through this inquiry, we must establish how he was failed and make sure it does not happen again,” Mr Andrews said.
“The findings will be outlined in this report, as well as a chronology of the issues that gave rise to him being in care and any gaps that may have occurred,” he said at the time.
