A woman has been awarded a six-figure sum after taking a council to court over a failed adoption. Karen Maguire pursued the adoption as a lone parent but was not supported when she expressed that the child she had adopted needed help. Ms Maguire described how she applied to adopt a child as a single parent in 2013. The application process took six months, and she was extremely pleased to have a two-year-old boy placed in her care as a result.
However, Ms Maguire told BBC Scotland that during the application process, she accepted that she could care for a child with “mild additional needs,” but she would find it difficult to cope with a child on her own who had severe difficulties. When the boy came to live with Ms Maguire in the South Lanarkshire area of Glasgow, he barely slept, hated being cuddled, and self-harmed by banging his head. The child wore a helmet when he first came to live with Ms Maguire, showcasing the extent of the self-harm.
It was later revealed that the boy had a serious underlying medical condition that Ms Maguire was not told about. The adoption had not gone through the courts officially, and it failed just four months after the child came to live with her. Ms Maguire described how she was aware that many children in local authority care had emotional difficulties and that she was told the child she was to take on was “relatively uncomplicated,” before being informed he had developmental delay.
Ms Maguire shared that she “knew something was wrong” as soon as he moved in. She recounted how he was covered in bruises and his face was cut from self-harming. She added: “He had rages, for hours on end he was inconsolable. It was horrific to watch. He would be hanging from my hair or he would hit me about the head, the nose, the mouth. I got absolutely no support whatsoever.”
Ms Maguire received help from family and friends, but eventually, told a social worker she was not coping. While social work help was provided, Ms Maguire believes she needed specialist support as she suspected there was something more going on. An incident occurred where the boy threw a paperweight at her head, which Ms Maguire said would have been “catastrophic” if it had hit her “full on.” The placement came to an end that day when social workers visited and saw her bruises.
Ms Maguire has opened up about how emotionally difficult the experience was for her. She mentioned feeling consumed by guilt because she tried so hard to keep him, adding that the stigma around returning an adopted child made people misunderstand the situation. Seeking legal advice, Ms Maguire has since been awarded a figure thought to be more than £100,000. Her lawyer, Elizabeth Rose from L&M Meilaw, highlighted that her client had not been given sufficient information ahead of the match and lacked support during the process.
South Lanarkshire Council told BBC Scotland: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on individual cases. Our policy for practice reflects national standards and regulatory requirements. Support is offered following adoption which we endeavour to tailor to the needs of the child.”