The court granted an extension of four weeks to the interim care order for a young teenager who was currently in a placement with his maternal grandparents.
The social worker stated that the teenager was getting on very well in the placement with his grandparents. However, she added that concerns continued to exist that warranted extending the teenager’s interim care order, in particular, the mother’s lack of acknowledgment of the concerns held by the Child and Family Agency (CFA). She added that the concerns of the CFA involved violence and mental health issues.
The social worker stated that a capacity assessment in respect of the mother was required in order to determine if a reunification between mother and son might be possible and that such an assessment was being organised.
She informed the court that the teenager was doing very well and that he considered his maternal grandparents’ home to be his home. He wanted to stay with his grandparents until he turned 18 years of age.
She added that the teenager enjoyed some access with his mother, but that he had not found all of the access enjoyable. He had had access every two weeks, but this had changed recently as the mother was not fully engaged. The social worker indicated that the mother was having mental health difficulties and some suicidal ideation and had been unable to attend some of the access visits. The mother had consented to an extension of the interim care order for a further four weeks.
Having read the reports and considered the evidence given, the judge found that the threshold to continue the interim care order had been met.
He ordered the extension of the interim care order for a further four weeks and ordered that all of the directions previously given continue in force. He also ordered that the mother’s access to her son be facilitated in the same manner as had previously been in place.
