A troubled teenager has been offered a flat to live in and professional help after he took court action against a health board, alleging years of failure to provide appropriate care.
The 17-year-old, who is in care, has withdrawn his High Court application for a declaration criticising the failures of the South Western Area Health Board.
The application was withdrawn on terms and in light of an offer by the health board of a placement that is intended to facilitate the boy's transition to independent living. The board has offered a move to a flat next month, with support from professionals.
The boy's guardian had told the High Court he was made aware of the offer on the day prior to the start of the action on May 13th. However, he did not have an opportunity at that stage to assess the proposed placement adequately.
On the seventh day of the hearing, Mr Justice Murphy was told the application for a declaration was being withdrawn. The case was then adjourned for review until June 22nd.
During the hearing, the judge was told the boy is one of 10 children of severely alcoholic and dysfunctional parents.
He was first made subject of a care order at the age of two and has been in the care of health boards for most of his life. He has a history of heroin abuse but began to tackle the problem from early February last, and is continuing to attend a drug treatment programme.
He has been staying in a city-centre hostel since April 13th, but under the latest proposal would move to a flat next month with the help of professional support.
Both the health board and the State had denied failure to provide adequately for the boy's needs and had pleaded that everything reasonable was done for him.
In evidence to the court, the guardian said the boy had been in a unit since July 2003 but on April 9th, at a stage when he was making progress tackling his drug problem, that unit was closed down.
He said no suitable alternative placement had been proposed for him at that stage.
The guardian said the boy was often very frustrated and angry about his situation and had once asked whether there was "anybody in Ireland who can help me get all this anger out of my head and all this hurt out of my feelings".
Shortage of staff was not an adequate reason for a health board to effectively close the door on children, the guardian said.
The shortage of childcare staff was a problem for the State to address through the provision of training for an adequate number of people.
During the proceedings, Mr Raphael Mitchell, assistant chief executive with the South Western Area Health Board, said the decision to close down the unit where the boy had been making progress was taken because there were not enough staff to run the unit and because of safety concerns.
He denied that the unit was closed in the absence of a suitable alternative placement for the boy.
He said a bed was available in a hostel on April 9th, the day the unit closed, and it was hoped the boy would use the bed, and various other supports provided by the health board, as part of a move towards semi-independent living. The boy's goal was independent living, but all the professionals involved agreed he was not ready for that yet.
The decision to close the unit was first taken in August 2003, following a Social Services Inspectorate report that said it was not suitable to house vulnerable children, he said.
It was initially planned that the unit would close in January 2004, but that date was extended a number of times while alternatives were arranged for the children resident there, he added.
The unit manager told him it would be unsafe to keep the unit open after April 9th because there were not enough staff to run it, Mr Mitchell said.
The health board remains committed to the boy and was available to do whatever it could to help him make the transition to independent living. He commended the board staff who had worked tirelessly for the boy.
