Care boy in custody due to lack of HSE accommodation
A 16-year-old boy who is in care has ended up in custody in St Patrick’s Institution because the Health Service Executive (HSE) has not been able to provide him with suitable accommodation.
A social worker told the Children’s Court that Health Service Executive was in a crisis in trying to find suitable accommodation for the boy through the care system.
The boy had pleaded guilty Court yesterday to a number of drink-fuelled petty crimes, for being drunk and disorderly and for handling stolen property.
Defence solicitor Michelle Finan said the boy was in the care of the HSE. He has been held in custody on the charges but previously had been staying in a residential unit run by the HSE, however that accommodation was no longer available to him.
The boy was not supported in court by any member of his family. However, two social workers who have been working with him were present for the case.
One of them said that the only accommodation that could be offered the teenager was “out-of-hours” a form of hostel accommodation, which Judge Catherine Murphy described as “absolutely unsuitable for a child of 16 years”.
Through the out-of-hours system the child would have to present himself at a Garda station in the evening and the HSE would be contacted to see if they had any places available in their hostels.
Judge Murphy said: “I am not abandoning any child to out of hours. This child is in the statutory care of the HSE and requires proper accommodation.”
The court was then told that the boy could not return to the care unit he had stayed in previously as a result of his behaviour there. The social worker added that efforts were underway to find another care unit placement for the boy.
In response to a question from the judge asking whether “the HSE was been in crisis at the moment in relation to providing accommodation to young children,” the social worker agreed that in this case, it was.
Judge Murphy remanded the boy in custody until tomorrow morning for proposals from the HSE in relation to the teen’s accommodation.
