Photograph: iStockA 14-year-old girl who took her own life was “blocked” from getting “adequate” mental health and social services in her community, a new report says. The review of the circumstances around the teenager’s death found that neither Tusla social workers nor the HSE’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs) communicated adequately with each other about the serious risk the girl was at. About three months before Sophie died, medics at her Camhs inpatient unit contacted Tusla asking for community services on her discharge. “Sophie’s disturbed behaviour continued and after a self-harm episode she was readmitted to a residential psychiatric service who re-referred the case to [Tusla] requesting ‘wraparound’ community services on her discharge,” says the report. “His history should have raised serious doubts about his suitability to be approved as a relative carer,” says the report.

Source: The Irish Times March 31, 2026 18:04 UTC