A child goes missing and the community swings into action. But not so for a child in care

Mary’s* daughter is one of those young people who has regularly absconded since going into the care of the State in October 2022.

The young girl last absconded from care in the early weeks of this year but her mother has concerns that she could — at any time — leave her residential care setting in a rented home in a different county, several miles from her family home in the east of the country.

Her mother says that she is always expecting a phone call to notify her that her daughter has once again absconded. She says that on one occasion she was found nine days later in Donegal in the company of two older males, while on another occasion, she was found in a hotel with another adult male.

She says: “There needs to be better safeguards in place for children in care. There is something missing — there is a level of security and protection for those kids that isn’t being met and the State has a duty of care to those kids.” 

While Mary loves her daughter dearly, she says it is not possible to have her in the family home because of the danger she poses to her younger siblings due to erratic behaviour.

She says: “Not all backgrounds of children in care are the same and sometimes there are complex needs involved. 

People don’t understand until they are in a situation like that — all you want to do is care for your child. If a child falls down and hurts their knee, you put a plaster on it but you don’t know how to help with these complex issues they have and there are no supports.

She says that she feels her daughter’s case has stagnated because she has not been given the mental health assessment her family believes is needed to help address her complex needs.

She is currently the subject of rolling interim care orders and lives in an Airbnb setting with up to three care staff on duty at a time.

Research associate with the Sexual Exploitation Research Programme (SERP), Ruth Breslin, says that parents like Mary are begging for help for their children but often “feel like nobody is listening and they are fighting this big system.” 

She adds: “There are parents too who are struggling with their own issues so to try to be champions and advocates for their children to the highest level at the same time can be just too much for some parents.

“Those children often don’t have a champion in their lives because either their parents are no longer involved in their lives or no longer alive or just not in a position to fight for them.” 

She said that long-term missing children and teenagers in State care are not highlighted through press conferences or other forms of publicity. She highlighted that cases involving missing children from more stable backgrounds end up with appeals being circulated on social media and WhatsApp groups but that the same does not apply for young people in care who have disappeared.

“It is not just that they don’t have a family but they also don’t have a community, a bunch of people around them who cares about them and is worried about them,” she said. She added that most people have never heard the names of such children and young people, despite them being missing long term.

She continued: “When we think about a missing child, we do think about cases like Madeline McCann or Philip Cairns here. Then you have children who are already on the margins of society — for example, some of the children are migrants or come from a migrant background. It appears to be an over-representation of them amongst the missing.” 

A spokeswoman for Tusla told the Irish Examiner: “In many instances involving Separated Children Seeking International Protection (SCSIP), the individuals communicate their intention to travel on to other countries and member states to join family members or indicate it has never been their intention to remain in Ireland. We believe that these young people had plans in place to leave as soon as they arrived in Ireland. 

"However, we always remain concerned and vigilant, and notify An Garda Síochána of all young people whose whereabouts are unknown. Both organisations continue their efforts to locate these young people.” 

Ms Breslin says that while that may be true, her concerns remain: “How do they have the capacity to get themselves back out of the country regardless of how they came in? Do they have the right paperwork? Do they have the right passport? Where did they get the money to travel? It really does concern me that we don’t have an answer on those children. 

“What happens to those children when they are missing? We are talking about vulnerable young people — there are all kinds of risks along the way. 

It seems to me that we have X number of children who have vanished that we don’t know where they are, but who were in the State at some point and the State was responsible for them and we don’t know now where they are. That is really concerning.

“It often feels like people are not fighting their corner or championing their cause and that is a stark contrast to if a child from an Irish middle-class family goes missing.” 

She acknowledged, however, that children in the care of the State are vulnerable and may be volatile in their behaviour and be more likely to abscond from where they are accommodated.

But she said: “That does not take away from the fact that if the State had responsibility for them, then they still do when they are missing and the State should know where they are.” 

Last June, SERP published a report which found that children and young people in residential care or who go missing while in State care, are being targeted for sexual exploitation in an organised manner by co-ordinated networks, or gangs, of predatory men.

She said: “It was never indicated to us by any of our participants that they (the predatory men) were of a particular nationality. I would say it is more likely that it is by men who know their own community well, they have probably already been acting in a predatory way to young people no matter who they are and they know for example if there is a residential care home in their community that it is a place where vulnerable young people are going to be. 

“If you look at the adult sex trade, it is very clear that organised crime gangs are involved in the sexual exploitation of young women and that is a mix of home-grown domestic gangs and international gangs.” 

She stressed that there are cases where a young woman in care who is exploited can often “age out” of the system when they turn 18.

She continued: “The exploitation just continues so even though she is gone overnight from being a child to an adult, it is still the same people exploiting her who targeted her first when she was young, when she was a minor.” 

She explained: “If you are somebody who acts in a predatory fashion, you are very skilled at spotting vulnerability and spotting the right thing that will reel young people in, whether it is that they want to be showered with affection and love, and told that they are wonderful and you love them, or they want to be showered with the expensive trappings of looking like they have wealth and that is effective with the boys. The predator will see and know that.” 

Ms Breslin says it is a concern that the whereabouts of young people who are supposed to be in State care can be unknown.

She continues: “We have young people that we don’t know where they are, we don’t where they sleep at night, we don’t know how they feed and clothe themselves, have they ended up becoming reliant on people who are exploiting them. They are at the margins already but at the control of an exploiter, they are more on the margins and more hidden.” 

In response, a spokeswoman for Tusla said that children reported missing from care are recognised as being among the most vulnerable in society, and that Tusla and An Garda Síochána work together on such cases through a Joint Protocol.

She explained: “This protocol sets out how social workers and social care workers should make a report of a missing child in care; when and how information about the child may be released to the public if the child is not located, and arrangements for the return of the child to care when they are found. The Gardaí have primary responsibility for investigating once a child is reported missing. 

"Throughout the Garda investigation, Tusla staff and carers maintain regular contact with the Gardaí, pass on all relevant information and assist in the safe return of the child. Due to the vulnerable nature of children in care, Tusla prepares an Absence Management Plan for each child in care.” 

She said that most of the children and young people reported ‘missing’ return to their placement after a brief period of time. Where a young person in the Separate Children Seeking International Protection (SCSIP) service is deemed missing, Tusla notify gardaí under the joint Children First protocol, she said.

She said: “Tusla remains concerned for the welfare of those minors who go missing from our care and who do not get back in touch, and the agency continues to make efforts to contact the young person. The agency continually liaises with AGS and keeps them updated if they become aware of any further information relating to the missing young person. 

"The vast majority of young people in the SCSIP service reported as missing are aged over 16 years.” 

She also said that some unaccompanied minors who go missing from care “communicate their intention to travel on to other countries to join family members, and some indicate that it was never their intention to remain in Ireland and leave soon after they arrive in the country”.

However, she said: “Nonetheless, for those who do not subsequently make us aware of their whereabouts, these young people are counted as missing and AGS are notified accordingly.”

*Not the person's real name