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GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER 1979
I was consulted because the parents were then insisting
on getting the child back. In view of the past history the
social workers were satisfied that the earlier assaults had
arisen out of certain inadequacies in the parents. As these
inadequacies had not really changed, the social workers
were very apprehensive that the child would be assaulted
again if returned to the parents. The question was, what
could be done to prevent that? I had to advise that I did
not think that we could move in September to get a Fit Per-
son Order on the basis of what happened over six months
previously. Had action been taken the previous February
a Fit Person Order would certainly have been granted.
Instead, the parents had voluntarily agreed to place the
child in the care of grandparents. Theoretically speaking,
the parents may have come to realise the error of their
ways so there was no positive proof they would repeat the
previous ill-treatment of the child. There was really no
option, therefore, but to let the child go back home to the
parents on the basis that the home would be kept under
the closest possible supervision. We would have to await
a further act of ill-treatment (if it was to happen) to
provide fresh evidence on which a Fit Person Order could
be sought. The child was allowed home and was assaulted
once again. Needless to say, we moved in very fast then
and got an Order committing the child into the care of the
Health Board.
Legal challenges to Fit Person Orders:
In child care cases one has to bear in mind also matters
of natural justice and Constitutional rights which are so
readily invoked these days. A few Fit Person Orders that
were obtained in cases with which I dealt were
subsequently challenged in the High Court by the parents.
I am happy to say that the lawyers acting for the parents
were very practical in their attitude. While in duty bound to
do what they could on the instructions from their clients,
the parents, they were conscious of the potential risk to the
children if the High Court proceedings were successful and
the children were discharged back to the parents. In those
cases the High Court proceedings were compromised
without going to Final judgment in a way that provided
reasonable safeguards for the children.
Duration of Fit Person Orders:
Even though a Fit Person Order is obtained it is not the
intention in the cases that I deal with that the child should
be kept away indefinitely from the parents. A Fit Person
Order is normally granted until the child attains 16 years
of age unless the Order is sooner varied or revoked. These
qualifying words are deliberately put into the Order.
Notwithstanding the making of the Order there is ongoing
social work with the parents in the hope that the home
conditions can be improved and the child eventually
returned to the parents. If that can be achieved then the
Fit Person Order can be varied or revoked.
Effect of Fit Person Orders:
The effect of a Fit Person Order is to vest parental
custody and control of the child in the fit person. When a
health board is named as the fit person, it is free to make
such arrangement it considers suitable for the care and
maintenance of the child. But the parents are encouraged
to maintain contact with the child and all efforts are made
to build up a better bond between them. If the child can
eventually be returned home, the health board is quite
willing to support an application to the Court for a
revocation of the Fit Person Order.
Extent of Problem of Children at Risk
I have no statistics of the frequency with which cases
involving children at risk occur. If the number of
cases I have had to deal with is a reliable indicator, there
appears to be a considerable increase in such cases.
However, I cannot say whether this is a real increase in
absolute terms or whether the frequency of occurrence is
no greater than in past years. But more cases are being
discovered because of the larger number of social workers
now working in the community. Possibly both factors are
involved.
It is horrifying to find at times a case in which it turns
out that the ill-treatment of a child has been going on over
a period. For example, it has happened on occasions that
when a child is being X-rayed on examination for one
injury that has come to light, evidence is found that bones
or ribs had been broken in earlier incidents and left to heal
themselves because the child had not received earlier
medical attention.
We have all read news reports over the last few years
about cases in England in which some children were so
badly ill-treated that they eventually died. A sad feature of
some of those cases was the people knew what was going
on but for one reason or another did not voice their
concern to anyone in authority. A reluctance to get
involved is a commonplace reaction to unpleasant events.
But what a price is paid if it results in the suffering and
possible death of a child.
Some of the more notorious ill-treatment and fatal
injury cases which have hit the headlines in the last few
years have been followed by probing question as to what
the child care agencies and social workers were doing. We
should not be too quick to jump in with criticism, as
people often do. The agencies and social workers work
under difficulty. They may be handicapped by not having
important information which neighbours and others keep
to themselves. The difficulties in the home which put a
child at risk in the first instance may be considerable and
take a long time to deal with. It is not always easy to
decide whether the best interests of the child would be
served by keeping him in continuing care or by returning
him to the family home in the course of the social work
programme.
Conclusion
In concluding my paper I mention two points that I
would particularly like to see dealt with.
Firstly, I would like to see a greater public awareness
of the fact that there are many children at risk within our
midst. Traditionally the word "Informer" has been a dirty
one on the Irish scene and it deters many people from
reporting things when it could be done in the public
interest.
I would hope that when young innocent children are at
risk people can overcome their scruples and report cases
in which there is serious reason to believe a child may be
at risk. Some people will be in a particularly
advantageous position to help in this respect. For
example, a teacher may observe signs of bruising on a
child that might not readily be explained away by a claim
of a fall or other genuine accidental cause. Again, a child
may appear very withdrawn in school so that abnormal
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