77 care placementsbroke down in 3yrs

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 All 27 freeing applications were granted and none were withdrawn.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.”

Three of the deaths occurred in 2010/11 and one occurred in 2011/12.

The paper asked the Western Trust how many of the four deaths of ‘looked after children’ occurred within the authority but a spokesperson told the paper in May 2012 it could not provide a number as this could lead to a child or young person being identified.

Although the Western Trust refused to provide details of the deaths of children in its care over the last three years the Sentinel ascertained that there was one suspected suicide in the Women and Children’s Directorate between April 2009 and March 2011.

The Sentinel was unable to ascertain whether this death involved a young person or child in state care.

The Western Trust’s Women and Children’s Directorate where the suspected suicide was reported between 2009 and 2011 has “responsibility for services delivered to women and children.”