A's Story – A Vulnerable Child Moved From Pillar To Post

Summary

In a recently published judgment, the court has once again highlighted the extreme difficulties faced by young people with behavioural issues in our society, as well as the problems facing those who are tasked with the responsibility for commissioning and providing their care.

In this article, we report on a case about care proceedings that may seem all-too-familiar to CCGs and CAMHS services, and on a proposed new legal duty on CCGs to address the chronic shortage of appropriate placements for young people with behavioural difficulties across the UK.

What was the case about?

Tradition dictates that judges publish their reasoning in cases where they decide to increase awareness of the reasons behind making particular court orders, and to ensure that there is transparency of the judicial decision making process.

But in recent times, some judges have taken to using their public platform to shed a light on issues that go beyond the power of the court to deal with, as a wider comment on the state of society. In this judgment, HHJ Dancey makes it clear that he is writing to "tell the story" of A, a girl aged 15 ½ years.

Without reciting the full details, he describes A's troubled upbringing which has resulted, according to a court appointed psychologist, in anger, dysregulation and problems forming close...