EDITORIAL
The unfortunate death by suicide of a 17-year-old boy, Jordan Duffy, was the subject of a lengthy inquest starting over two days in Trim in September and concluding over one day in Navan a few days ago. He was in State care at Heather Lodge in Clonee where he was described by a social worker as having developed into a very social young person, charismatic and charming with a unique style of humour”. One of a family of 10 children, he had always felt that family was the most important thing to him and he always expressed his love for them.
As he approached his 18 th birthday he knew he would have to leave the care centre but as that deadline approached he became more and more anxious and troubled at the lack of an after care plan for him and those feelings were reflected in a message he sent to Tusla in January 2020 “I have nowhere to live after the house [Heather Lodge]. I’m turning 18 on 25 th February.
I’ve not been told about my plan after I turn 18 and not taken into account what I want. She {unnamed} is refusing to listen to me on that I want or taking my choice on board. Nobody has come to me and informed me about my arrangements or any news whatsoever from either aftercare or social worker. I am very worried that I might go into homeless accommodation because this is stressing me out on a daily basis. I want to be informed what is happening in my life”.
There is a great poignancy and desperation in that message. Jordan was not an ordinary teenager. He had his problems including ADHD, autism spectrum disorder and a mild learning disability, all of which impacted his day-to-day function in engaging with life events. His intermittent substance misuse had added to his vulnerability.
He expressed the opinion that, given his vulnerability, he would not be expected to have the capacity and maturity to live independently. “Jordan is a very vulnerable young man who functions at a level far below his chronological age and this is likely to persist over a long period of time and probably for the duration of his life”, ”said one report. All the
more reason why a carefully-prepared exit plan for leaving State care into adulthood should have been in place for Jordan in a timely manner.
It was not and many reasons were given for the delay in implementation. It had been agreed that he would remain at Heather Lodge after the age of 18 under an interim wardship order with a guardian ad litem appointed to him. That order was to last eight weeks until 20 th April 2020 but a further six-week extension was granted because another centre was not ready to take him. The context of Covid-19 contributed to this delay, it was claimed.
The case was almost continuously before the courts on a monthly basis because of the uncertainty around his after care placement. In January 2020 the district court ordered that a capacity assessment be completed in relation to Jordan. A speech and language therapist was to be available to assist professionals communicating with him because of his difficulty in understanding wardship.
This did not occur due to Covid-19. There was to be a third assessment by a medical officer on 18 th May 2020. This did not take place due to Jordan passing away on 17 th May. In returning its verdict the inquest jury made a number of recommendations.
1. When prescribing the drug Lexapro [for the treatment of depression] the recipient should be made aware of all side effects and that all care givers who have the resident’s medical information should impart it to the medical practitioners who require that information so as to make an informed assessment.
2. That the preparation of an after care plan begins when a young person has his/her birthday and at the six-month statutory mark, if the plan is not completed, it is escalated to the highest level.
3 That the guardian ad litem should commence a district court application to ensure the plan progresses in a timely manner.
4. The young person should also be kept informed at all stages of the process in a manner that they can understand. The coroner for Meath Nathaniel Lacy has said he would bring these recommendations to the attention of the relevant authorities.
It is now five days since the inquest was finalised and apart from expressions of sympathy to Jordan’s family from lawyers acting for Tusla and the Hse (which is the least that should be done) there has not been one word said publicly by those two organisations – and that is despite national and local media coverage of the inquest. Where are the explanations for what went wrong in this case? Where are the apologies to Jordan’s family? Does it not matter to them? It should. We call on the Minister for Health to instruct the chief executives of those organisations to respond to public concern about this case.
