“Family ties may only be severed in very exceptional circumstances and everything must be done to preserve personal relations and where appropriate to rebuild the family. It is not enough to show the child could be placed in a more beneficial environment for his upbringing. However, where the maintenance family ties would harm the child’s health and development, a parent is not entitled under Art.8 to insist that such ties be maintained.”
“Society must be willing to tolerate very diverse standards of parenting including the eccentric the barely adequate and the inconsistent. It is not the provenance of the State to spare children all the consequences of defective parenting. In any event, it simply could not be done.”
“I have observed her displaying excellent concentration when undertaking pursuits she enjoys and one would hope that, when she achieves emotional stability, her educational progress will be satisfactory.”
“Although the foster carer thought that [Person A] may thrive in placement where she is the only child and I appreciate that a joint placement is likely to pose challenges, one must weigh against this as psychological harm may be caused by separating these two young children with the sense of loss and potential risk of depression and anxiety in later life.”
“There is a significant amount of undoing required to address these ingrained patterns. The process will necessitate targeted interventions including therapeutic work to address her childhood trauma and mental health difficulties and specific one to one domestic abuse work. Without such an intervention the risk is that [Person C] will repeat abusive relationship patterns. Whether with [Person D] or a new partner, the risk remains high.”
“I do not trust him to be around Person A and B to be fair”
“Undoubtedly, [Person A] has suffered emotionally by exposure to unpredictable and violent environments. Although not able to articulate it, [Person A] has not been able to trust family members to prioritise her needs. I expect [Person A]’s emotions are so raw that the slightest provocation can activate an angry outburst. I am in no doubt that [Person A] in particular has been emotionally damaged by her past experience and domestic instability, having no sense of permanency or genuine trust of the adults around her.”
“If the work was to continue, then [Person C] would need to and want to engage with the service. I do feel there is more work to be done with [Person C], but the engagement is not there and it would be very hard to continue.”
“[Person C] has not been proactive engaging with her advocate to recommend the support areas. [Person C] has had sight of previous reports completed which detail recommendations for support. I am aware these have been discussed with her advocate and I worry that her motivation may be undermined by her lack of acceptance of the risks set out.”
“There is nothing that has not been done. I think I went over and beyond. I ignore my calls and I would call her again. I was persistent. But what I did may be different and the difficulties are not due to a lack of support. All the support has been offered and [Person C]’s readiness and timing has played a part in where she is at. From my perspective, the support has already been put in.”
“We can all help [Person C] with documents, paperwork and reminder of appointments. [Person Q] can help [Person C] engage in courses by taking her and helping her throughout.”
“We will all help remind [Person C] of appointments. We’ll encourage [Person C] to note them down and put them in her calendar. All the family will engage with [Person C] to make sure she engages with services.”
“Shut up” and tells the foster carer, “[Person D] says that”
“[Person E] has been struggling to navigate the complex and competing needs of the children and it is evident that there are ongoing concerns about her inability to consistently enforce boundaries and ensure appropriate limits are put in place. She has struggled to build confidence in order to take control of her parenting role and gives in and tends to compensate when the children push boundaries.”
“I remember hearing that [Person D] at the hearing in January said he had spoken with the girls and so I was given the job to investigate. I called [Person H] and she said that had never happened and she did not understand why [Person D] would say that.”
“I told her to get legal support. I was doing everything possible as a Guardian to encourage her, but that commitment was not there. I had lengthy discussions with her at court and she was very conflicted. She struggled. She was in two minds about whether she wanted to maintain her job and she felt very pressured by [Person L]. She wanted to put [Person F] forward. But she has been dishonest. She shared she was not getting the time off from work, but also said her employers had a scheme which would give her time off work. She called her manager in my presence who said she could take the time off, but the message she gave me was she could not. They have known about the alternative plans and this application now is trying to derail this for the children and it is vital they have permanence and no more delay.”
“Both children present with challenging behaviour as documented in many reports. It will be important for future carers to be patient and nurturing and adhere to appropriate rules and expectations. The caregivers will need to be sensitive to the children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties, prepared to talk respectfully about their birth family and welcome them into a new family.” “It is important that children are not pathologized”, the psychologist said. “In my opinion, the behavioural difficulties are a result of neglectful and inconsistent parenting rather than any disorder within the child.”
“If we still have not got a placement for both of them then I suppose, when we get to that point, we will need to reassess. But at this point I cannot say let us look to separate. We need to look at when we get to that point. We cannot make the decision now.”