Reporters from the CCLRP attend cases in District Courts around the country selected on a random basis, and cases in the High Court involving children in secure care. Given the nature of some of the cases, which can go on for many months with multiple adjournments, not all case reports published below are complete, but rather reflect what happened in court on that day. We publish the latest volume of such reports.

This latest volume of reports from the Child Care Law Reporting Project highlights, once again, the difficulties in finding suitable placements for children in care who need therapeutic support. Five of the 30 reports published concern cases where no suitable placement was available for highly vulnerable young people, with complex psychological needs and sometimes also medical problems or disabilities. Two of these cases were in the High Court, which deals with children requiring secure care (detention), and three in the District Court. In the two High Court cases the children concerned had been in specialist centres in the UK, but were due to return to Ireland as they were approaching 18, and no suitable placement could be found for them here.

Other common issues highlighted in the reports are the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse, learning disabilities and mental health issues among the parents in child care cases. However, there are some positive stories among the cases reported, including two where the children were being reunited with their parents, who were resolving their problems, and one case where a boy turned his life around after three years in care and was preparing to enter third level education.