Thousands of vulnerable children’s records ‘may be destroyed’ in coming weeks

Thousands of vulnerable children’s records “may be destroyed” in the coming weeks as a new service to regulate advocates for children in legal care cases begins, say practitioners. The new guardian ad litem (Gal) service, to be operated by a unit within the Department of Children, will replace the system in place since 1995 where Gals have been independent practitioners appointed . The department says the service, beginning on June 23rd, will create a “national, professional, high-quality service that better serves children and the courts”. However, significant concerns are emerging among existing Gals about what will happen to records in their possession on thousands of children for whom they have advocated. The department has confirmed it wants files on historic cases transferred to it . In each case of a child currently in care, it wants only their Gals’ “most recent court report,” it says. Gals say they have no legal authority to retain files once they no longer practise. These could include children’s letters, poems, personal reflections or accounts of deeply personal events. Monica Hynds, director of Barnardos guardian ad litem service, said she was “really concerned” about the fate of almost 500 children’s records held . “From the point of view of children’s rights and the rights of those children to have access to their information later in life, I am really concerned,” she said. It is understood that, for various reasons, returning file contents to the children involved may not always be possible. Barnardos kept copies of all its Gals court reports, of which there could be many, and “also retained is any direct work, any letter the child may have sent via their Gal to the judge ... these are all kept on file in case at some point in the future they wish to access them. “On the 23rd June individual Gals contracted with Barnardos will no longer have a legal responsibility to retain them. They may be shredded. “What have we learned in terms of adults [who were illegally adopted or incarcerated in religious institutions] having to go to enormous lengths to get their childhood records? Yet here we are with records of vulnerable, traumatised children that are simply going to shredded or destroyed.” Sources within the other two largest Gal services, Gallore and Tigala, which between them hold more than 1,500 children’s records, share these concerns to varying degrees. The Association of Gals Ireland (Agali) said: “The fact that no proper provision has been made for the transfer of data or for proper archiving of files regarding adults for whom a Gal record exists is a serious concern.” The lack of a plan will put individual Gals in the “invidious position of having to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to retain these records in their personal possession”.