Dublin: 13 Troubled Children Exported Because Our Childcare System Has Failed Them

TWELVE deeply troubled children are being held at care facilities abroad, at an annual cost of €3.6m, because there is nowhere suitable for them in Ireland, the Irish Independent has learned.
A 13th child is expected to be sent to a secure facility abroad in the coming days.

Authorities are sending him to England after a court was told the care system in Ireland was unable to deal with the 16-year-old's complex problems. The revelation comes as figures released by the Child and Family Agency show it costs the State significantly less to send problem children abroad than it does to provide services for them here.

The average cost of out-of-state care per child is €5,769 per week. This compares with a cost of around €10,000 per week to detain a child at the Ballydowd special care unit in Dublin.
There are only 17 special care places in Ireland, 10 at Ballydowd with the remainder split between Gleann Alainn in Cork and Coovagh House in Limerick.

These are high security units where children with serious emotional and behavioural difficulties can be detained, subject to a court order, even if they have not committed a crime.
The new Child and Family Agency is planning to spend millions to double to 34 the places available by 2016.

The additional special care places are to be built at Gleann Alainn and at St Ita's Hospital in Portrane, Co Dublin. However, the agency admits that even when this is done, there may still be a need to send some children abroad.

"The referral of children abroad for specialised therapeutic interventions is an established feature within our health and social care system and decisions in each case are made in the best interests of the individual," a spokeswoman said.

However, Jillian van Turnhout, a senator and children's rights campaigner, questioned this approach. "I am concerned that we are sending children to care facilities abroad due to a lack of specialised facilities here in Ireland," she said.

Ms van Turnhout said a better solution would be "investing in a home-grown solution that develops our domestic expertise and puts the best interests of the child at the centre of the process."

The latest case involves a Dublin teenager who has been diagnosed with a number of disorders.
He is being sent to the St Andrew's in Northampton, which has over 100 beds for children with challenging behaviour.

During a hearing at Dublin Children's Court, Judge John O'Connor said child welfare agencies here believed the teenager did not meet the criteria for being placed in a secure care facility in Ireland as they were not equipped to deal with his "complex needs".

The teenager, who has been diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiance disorder and development co-ordination disorder, had appeared in the court on a series of theft charges and one for knife possession.

The Child and Family Agency is in the process of securing High Court orders in both Ireland and England so that the boy can be detained in Northampton. As well as sending troubled children to Northampton, it has also used facilities such as Oakview Hospital in Kent; St Mary's in Scotland and Boystown in Nebraska.

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Cases where children might be sent abroad include ones involving extreme aggression and violence, damaging sexually provocative and threatening behaviour, and complex mental health issues.

Irish Independent

Dublin: Crippling Depression Top Cause Of Illness And Suicide In World's Teenagers: WHO Report

UPDATE: Childline was contacted by children in need of help or support over 664,000 times last year in this country.

The charity responded to 463,396 of these contacts through its phone and web based services, it said today. Throughout 2013, a significant number of children were talking about abuse and welfare with 13.5 per cent of phone contacts and 15 per cent of online contacts relating to this area.

Another cause of concern for the charity was the number of times they were contacted about mental health issues. Figures indicate children are more likely to talk about this online, as 20 per cent of online contacts related to this while nine per cent of phonecalls related to it.

Last year Childline answered its five millionth call. The charity also upgraded it’s website so it was compatible with tablet and mobile devices with funding it received from the National Office for Suicide Prevention and opening hours for its live web and text services were also expanded.

The charity released the figures today ahead of International Child Helpline Day which takes place tomorrow.

“Our members receive many calls every year related to abuse, violence, mental health and family relationships,” commented director of Child Helpline International. “Call rates are also increasing by an average 5 per cent a year, meaning that helpline demand doubles every 15 years. By continuing to listen to children and young people in this fast changing world, we hope to empower them with information, support and care into the future”.

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UPDATE: Some 13% of 16-year-olds have admitted self-harming in the last year.

The finding is just one contained in new research carried out by Queen' University Belfast.

Almost a third of teenagers say they have experienced serious mental health problems in the last 12 months. Some 86% said they felt stressed in school.

A total of 1,367 16-year-olds from across the North took part in the survey.

Dr Dirk Schubotz from Queen’s University carried out the research. He said: "This a growing issue. They feel tremendously stressed. It's something we really have to take seriously."

Some studies show that half of all people who develop mental disorders have their first symptoms by the age of 14

Depression is the top global cause of illness and disability for adolescents, with suicide the third-biggest cause of death, the World Health Organization has said.

The finding is in a new report by the UN agency.

It has pulled together a wealth of published evidence with direct consultations with 10 to 19-year-olds around the world to assess the health issues that affect them.

Some studies show that half of all people who develop mental disorders have their first symptoms by the age of 14, said the report.

The study looked at a broad range of issues, including tobacco, alcohol and drug use, HIV, injuries, mental health, nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, and violence.

Traffic injuries were the number two cause of illness and disability, behind depression, with boys three times more likely to die than girls.

WHO said it was crucial for countries to reduce the risk by increasing access to reliable and safe public transport, improve road safety regulations such as alcohol and speed limits, establish safe pedestrian areas around schools and graduated licensing schemes where drivers' privileges are phased in over time.

Worldwide, an estimated 1.3 million adolescents died in 2012, it said.

The top three causes of death globally were road traffic injuries, HIV/AIDS, and suicide.

www.3ts.ie & www.aware.ie 

HIV was the second cause of deaths in adolescents globally, WHO said, with estimates suggesting the number of HIV-related deaths among adolescents was rising.

This was predominantly in Africa, at a time when HIV-related deaths were decreasing in all other population groups.

"We must not let up on efforts to promote and safeguard the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents, including HIV," said WHO scientist Jane Ferguson, lead author of the report.

www.drugfreeworld.org 

For adolescent girls alone, the second-biggest killer after suicide was complications during childbirth.

That was despite major progress on that front, WHO said, with death-rates plummeting since 2000 -- by 57 percent in Asia, 50 percent in the Middle East and 37 percent in Africa.

Other infectious disease also remained major killers, despite marked successes such as a 90-percent decline in death and disability from measles in Africa over the past decade, thanks to childhood vaccination.

Common infectious diseases that have been a focus for action in young children were among the hardest-hitting.

For example, diarrhoea and lower respiratory tract infections ranked second and fourth among causes of death in 10 to 14-year-olds.

Combined with meningitis, these conditions accounted for 18 percent of all deaths in this age group, little changed from 2000, WHO said.

Keywords: depression, health, world health organization

Belfast: PSNI Express Concern Over Young Internet Victims

UPDATE: ADDITION: Some 13% of 16-year-olds have admitted self-harming in the last year.

The finding is just one contained in new research carried out by Queen' University Belfast.

Almost a third of teenagers say they have experienced serious mental health problems in the last 12 months. Some 86% said they felt stressed in school.

A total of 1,367 16-year-olds from across the North took part in the survey.

Dr Dirk Schubotz from Queen’s University carried out the research. He said: "This a growing issue. They feel tremendously stressed. It's something we really have to take seriously."

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Police in Northern Ireland have expressed concern after a lmost 80 children and teenagers fell victim to online criminals.

The most common offences included harassment. Officers urged parents to learn enough about the internet to keep their children safe.

The explosion of social networking sites has increased the opportunity for interacting with potentially harmful individuals.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) detective chief inspector Douglas Grant said: "We are concerned about the number of younger victims in the provisional figures we have released."

Between October last year and April, the force recorded 429 computer offences, 78 involving victims aged 19 or under.

Mr Grant added: "The internet is a fantastic resource for learning, communicating and entertainment but, on the down side, it also provides opportunities for some individuals or groups to harm or abuse people - particularly young people."

The two most common offences out of the 429 were fraud and harassment. There were 45 sexual incidents, 32 threats to kill and seven reports of blackmail.

A break down of types of victim showed that 78 were aged 10-19, 113 aged between 20 and 29 and 71 aged between 30 and 39.

A total of 31 offenders have been detected by police over the seven-month period.

Research by communications regulator Ofcom last year indicated that around half of parents of 5- to 15-year-olds felt their children knew more about the internet than they did.

It suggested parents need continuing support to build their own skills and confidence because of the fast pace of technological change and the ease with which children can embrace and explore new technology.

A special website - www.GetSafeOnline.org - has been launched. Officers are visiting schools and giving talks about keeping safe online. www.getsafeonline.org 

Mr Grant added: "We will be providing basic material to encourage parents and children to become aware of the risks and do something about it together, what we call getting switched on."

The warning comes as British police investigating the death of a Scottish teenager who took his own life after being blackmailed by strangers online have been involved in a major international operation targeting cyber-crime in the Philippines.

Officers have said common sense steps can be taken to minimise the risk and threat from online criminals.

These include installing good anti-virus software, not using passwords which are easy to guess and not posting personal information or images you would not want family or friends to see.

The National Crime Agency is set up to tackle problems like internet crime, which can easily cross borders, on a UK-wide basis. Northern Ireland has not fully signed up to the body, known as the British FBI, because of accountability concerns.

Limerick: State Operating A "Pass The Parcel" System For Troubled Teens: Judge

By Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent (Examiner)

State services are now operating a “pass the parcel” system when dealing with troubled teens, a District Court judge has warned.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly voiced his concerns after learning that dangerous young criminals are routinely placed in Limerick University Hospital wards, among very sick patients, when the State has no secure unit for them.

Judge O’Kelly was told in court yesterday that a 16-year-old “escaped” from the hospital over the weekend, after he had been placed into the care of the HSE by another judge.

There had been six failed attempts to get the youth into Oberstown House since July on foot of successive court orders. He was still at large last night.

He faces a number of charges, one so serious he has been sent forward for trial at Limerick Circuit Court.

The court heard there are 36 places at Oberstown House and Trinity House for male offenders under 17. It was also told the HSE has a protocol at weekends that boys ordered into their care by a court are placed in Limerick University Hospital when there are no places available.

Tim Hanley, HSE children in care manager for Limerick, said this protocol was followed after Saturday’s court sitting in Ennis but the youth absconded from the hospital and was still missing.

Mr Hanley said the youth, whose parents say is a danger to himself and the public, needed “preventative custody”.

Mr Hanley, in reply to Judge O’Kelly, said there was a facility to send young offenders to custodial centres abroad, but this was a very complex process and involved the High Court.

The boy’s father informed the court that neither he nor the boy’s mother was informed that their son had gone missing from Limerick University Hospital at the weekend.

Tony O’Donovan, principal officer in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and child welfare adviser in the Irish Youth Justice Service section of the department, said they had received six requests since July for a bed for the boy at Oberstown House, but none was available.

Mr O’Donovan said he did not know when the next bed would become available, but because of the situation which has arisen in this case, they would endeavour to give him the next bed.

Mr O’Donovan said that while the HSE and the Irish Youth Justice Service work under the minister in the department dealing with boys such as this 16-year-old, there was no cross-over between the two sections as they operated under different legislation.

Judge O’Kelly remarked that different arms of the State seemed to be passing the parcel and he issued another warrant for the arrest of the missing youth.

Kildare: Failure To Monitor Drug Side-Effects Killing Patients: Psychiatrist

Failure to monitor the side-effects of drugs to treat long-term mental illness is shaving up to 20 years off the lives of thousands of patients, according to a leading consultant psychiatrist.

Siobhán Barry said up to 100,000 people, “enough to fill Croke Park on any given Sunday”, are on psychotropic medications — which have been shown to cause conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

This was mainly because of the significant weight gain associated with these drugs, said Dr Barry. In addition, many suffering mental ill health also smoked, and this compounded their physical health problems.

Yet the reality was psychiatric outpatients were not regularly monitored for the adverse health effects of long-term medication.

Ideally, their metabolic and cardiac health should be monitored from the time they started on medication and then checked every six months, Dr Barry said.

Potential problems could be picked up that way and addressed early. Failure to carry out these health checks was “reckless”, she said.

Instead, she said, they “die 20 years younger than their peers” who do not have enduring mental illness and are not on long-term medication.

The drugs in question included powerful tranquillisers such as Olanzapine, used to treat schizophrenia, rather than common antidepressants.

Addressing doctors at the Irish Medical Organisation’s AGM in Co Kildare, Dr Barry proposed a motion calling on Health Minister James Reilly to request that the Mental Health Commission audit the adequacy of facilities available for the physical monitoring of outpatients prescribed long-term psychotropic medication.

The motion was passed unanimously.

A separate motion calling on Dr Reilly to “urgently publish guidelines” in respect of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act was also passed.

Outgoing IMO president, consultant psychiatrist Matt Sadlier, said failure to supply guidelines to doctors was akin to giving someone sitting a driving test a copy of a Road Traffic Act instead of the rules of the road.

However, the Department of Health said yesterday that a final draft of the guidance document to assist health professionals in the implementation of the Act has been signed off by a committee tasked with drawing up the guidelines.

“It is expected that this document will be ready for publication and dissemination shortly,” a department spokesman said.