77 care placementsbroke down in 3yrs

77 care placements in the Western Trust broke down between April 2010 and 2013. 27 court applications to end parental responsibility of birth parents and allow local children to be adopted were all successful.

ALMOST eighty care placements affecting 46 vulnerable young people in the Western Trust broke down between 2010 and 2013, the Sentinel has learned.

Just two of the placements involved children who had been adopted.

The Western Trust also says that over the past three years 27 applications to local Courts to end the parental responsibility of birth parents and place young people with potential adoptive parents, were all successful.

The Trust stated: “We have been advised that 77 care placements have broken down since April 2010 (46 children).”

Of these “two (2) adoptive placements have broken down since April 2010.”

The local health authority also stated: “We have been advised that there were 27 freeing applications (without parental consent) placed before the Courts since April 2010.” All 27 freeing applications were granted and none were withdrawn.

The revelations follow a report in the Sentinel, which showed there were 444 children/young people who were looked after in the Trust area last year.

Trust childcare boss Mr Kieran Downey said there were 6,207 children classified as ‘children in need; and 24 unallocated referrals over April to September 2012.

Last May the Sentinel also revealed how four children died in state care in Northern Ireland from 2009 onwards.

There was also at least one suspected suicide in the Western Trust’s Directorate of Women and Children.

The Sentinel learned that after the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) was established in April 2009 it was notified of the “unexpected and tragic death of a ‘looked after child’ on four occasions by local Trusts.”