A High Court judge has refused to approve the adoption of a 17-year-old girl in a case in which he said the Child and Family Agency (CFA) “completely failed” to support a relationship between the child and her natural mother.
In his ruling on Monday, Mr Justice Max Barrett said the girl’s natural mother had proven herself to be a “demonstrably competent” parent for her other children and was “literally begging” for a relationship with her daughter, referred to as Miss B.
Had the CFA “just done its job” and acted upon the woman’s plea six years ago for greater access and information about Miss B, “who knows” what type of progress towards family reunification could have occurred, he said.
The judge listed a litany of “manifold and serious failings” on the part of the CFA, including that it had failed to support appropriate access visits and to support the relationship between Miss B and her natural mother, who had objected to the adoption application.
Mr Justice Barrett noted the girl’s foster mother has done a “remarkable job” caring for the girl since she was just months old. There is a huge amount of mutual love between the pair, he added.