Sir, - When our daughter was four years old, we were assessed as a family by the Eastern Health Board for fostering. Some years later, we were again assessed for adoption. I know what assessments are about.
We knew nothing about foster care starting out and the social worker who assessed us took it at our pace, explaining why certain questions were being asked. It would be untrue to say that we were not embarrassed by some of the questions at the time, but hindsight has shown that it was important they knew certain things in assessing our ability to care for certain children.
A three-year-old boy with a moderate mental disability was placed with us. Later, at various times, other young children were placed with us. At all times, the children's needs were the priority.
Shortly after the placement of the first three-year-old, we were assigned a new social worker. She, too, went to great lengths to get to know us and was and continues to be very supportive. She continued to support us when we decided to investigate adoption for the first little boy placed with us, then six years old.
We were assessed again by a different social worker from the EHB's adoption society. This was quite a rigorous process assessing our ability to care for a young boy with a mental disability and what the future might hold for him and for us as a family. It really was important that we understood what was ahead of us. It was even more important and very clear to us that the EHB had a commitment to this boy and what was in his best interests.
I am proud to say that our adopted son will be 23 years old next week. He has a mental disability but has progressed beyond our expectations and that of the medical fraternity. The other children for whom we provided care have either returned home or moved into long-term placements. We are in touch with some of them.
The assessment procedure, for us, was a two-way process. We were looking to see if foster care and later adoption was something we wanted to do or could do. The EHB was assessing whether we had the capacity and the skills to provide care for children who had been through a difficult time. The assessment brought out skills of which we were unaware.
Foster care and adoption are services for children, not for childless couples. The health boards have a duty to ensure that they find the best possible home for each and every child in their care and a family who can meet that child's needs. They must also ensure that a child is placed in a safe environment and I believe that rigorous assessment is a good way, indeed the only way, of achieving this. - Yours, etc., Patricia Whelan,
Grangewood, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.