The District Court made a full care order by consent for a child until she turns 18, after finding that the threshold under section 18(1)(c) of the Child Care Act 1991 was met. The judgment is dated 27 March 2012 and concerns a child whose name and date of birth are withheld.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) applied for the order on the basis that the child’s health, development and welfare were likely to be avoidably impaired or neglected without care and protection. She had entered voluntary care on 28 February 2011. After her parents withdrew their consent, the HSE obtained interim care orders from 25 March 2011, which were extended on about 10 occasions.
The court considered reports and evidence from a social worker and the child’s Guardian ad Litem (GAL). The social worker said the threshold continued to be met. The GAL was satisfied with the care plan but wanted reviews and concerns raised through counsel addressed by court directions.
The judgment records that the HSE had offered support aimed at preventing or ending the need for care, including parenting sessions, family support, counselling, access arrangements and psychological assessments. The court said both parents loved their daughter, but neither had sufficient parenting capacity to provide appropriate care and meet her needs from infancy through adulthood. Both parents consented to the care order, accepting they could not provide adequate care, while expressing a wish to remain involved in her life.
The court set access at the HSE’s discretion within section 37 and the arrangements agreed among the parents, GAL and HSE. The mother’s access was set at once a month for two and a half hours, supported at a family centre. The father’s was set at once every two weeks for two and a half hours, supported at the family centre or another suitable venue agreed by the parties. The court recommended child-centred venues.
Under section 47, the court directed that the placement committee consider the completed fostering assessment as soon as possible and within three months. It ordered a review within three months unless a long-term foster placement had been resolved and an updated care plan filed with GAL approval. It also set re-entry conditions, including an unresolved placement, lack of a social worker or fostering link worker for six weeks, or a planned or likely breakdown of the current placement. The HSE was directed to provide appropriate therapeutic services to the child and tailored supports to the parents. The GAL was discharged, with reasonable costs payable by the HSE.