Last week I my second visit from Liam, the complaints officer for Tusla, regarding my complaint against our case worker.
We went over the notes he made the first time, just to be sure everything was correct. My friend J. was at my house again too, which was good because two remember more than one of course.

The notes

He went through the points in the notes one by one to see if it was all correct. It was.
Wow, finally someone who listens!
We then went on to see if there were things to add to the points we made.
HELL YEAH!
He asked again about what had been said to my daughter. I explained that the case worker had spoken to her and told her that she thought she might be bipolar. He said that with my permission, he would also talk to my daughter about this. Of course, it will only make our case stronger. Because now we have the word of a case worker against that of a child (teenager). You know, those kids they're supposed to protect, not talk into having all kinds of mental illnesses. As if the world is not complicated enough as it is for them.
I also mentioned again that in her report it said that my daughter had been taken to hospital by her school head.
Nothing like that ever happened and can easily be verified by 2 people: my daughter and the school head.
He mentioned "misunderstanding" again.

Of course, people can make mistakes and misunderstand things. But in this case, the case worker didn't know anything about what truly happened and there is just no way that you could misunderstand the facts and turn it into something like this.
The truth is that my daughter had been talking to a school counsellor and this woman was concerned about her mental well-being. The school head asked me to come in to the office and told me that the counsellor had advised to see our GP for a referral. Now, I am usually reluctant to send anyone anywhere near counsellors or psycho-therapists or even a shrink, especially my children. However, because of all that had been going on, I knew they could use it against me, so I agreed to bring her to the GP about this. My daughter didn't really want to go, but agreed for the above reasons. It's just ticking the boxes really. The referral was made and that was that. No hospital, nothing.

Not only did the case worker talk out of her butt when she put this in the report, she also mixed up dates and times of things that happened. Almost like she remembered some notes she made and decided to just stick it in anywhere she liked and with whatever context she found relevant.
Actually: I think that's exactly what happened.
So even if anyone would still decide after this that she 'misunderstood', it definitely shows her inability to produce professional work. I'm not sure about you, but I am pretty confident that professionalism should be number one priority in her line of work.

Proof of misconduct

So now we have 4 people who can attest that this woman is just making stuff up as she goes along.
How much more proof does one need?
Liam told me he would get to the bottom of this and talk to anyone involved to get to the truth.

I mentioned there are two of her indirect colleagues who had also witnessed her behaviour. Now of course, I am sure that they might back her as they have to work with her. One of those women is Irish and the Irish aren't great fans of undermining their fellow country men, especially here in Mayo it seems. However I have always had the feeling that she is a fair woman, so you just never know.
The other is British and has always backed me. She did so at several meetings as well as the case conference we had. To be honest, I think that without her, this story could have been a different one altogether.
She's always been the one to support me and tell me that I was doing a great job and that she had a lot of respect for how I handle things with work and the kids being around me 24/7. I am 99% sure that she will back me in this also.

The final notes

We added a few things that hadn't been mentioned before. There was a mention of the meeting I had with the case worker, together with my friend J. and case worker's colleagues. At this point J. went into talk mode and she relayed everything that had been said. The times where I was interrupted very rudely and when she finished my sentences as if she knew what I was trying to say. Which was rarely the case by the way.
J. told Liam she would put down in writing what she had witnessed. He said he would wait to receive this and then talk it through with the case worker. Now this will be interesting because if she denies anything that was said during that meeting, we have a recording that will back it up.
Is it my evil side coming out that almost wants her to deny it?

We spoke a bit more of things that needed adding to the file and concluded the meeting with 11 points in the document.
It's not even everything, but these are the most important points.
He informed us that he would be away for two weeks and apologized for this. No need to apologize, everyone deserves a vacation. He concluded by promising that he would get in touch with me after his return and that by that time, there would be a response from the case worker.

Just a little light at the end of the tunnel

A few days after the meeting with Liam, I had another meeting with the case worker and her team leader.
J. was there as well for support.
In this meeting, the team leader mostly had the word. She went through the points that were working well and told me that I had been working well with the team. She also mentioned that the therapist had called them with some concerns in regards to my daughter's and my meetings with them. I kind of knew that this was coming, as he acted very weirdly the last time we spoke. One concern was that he thought I treated my daughter more as an adult than as a child when it comes to making decisions. WOW! God forbid that we treat our teenage children a little more like young adults, rather than little children with no mind of their own. One decision her referred to was the fact that my daughter had stated that she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue with school. I had to laugh at that. She had been homeschooled for 3 years when she decided to go back to school. And now, after 1 year, she was unsure if she wanted to continue.
It was perfectly fine for her to make the choice to go to school at the age of 15 (1/2), but not fine to doubt if she is in the right place one year later. Funny how these people think - it's almost like watching a totally different species. The team leader acknowledged that it is not mandatory for her to attend school at her age so that was that. The other choice that was mentioned was that she stayed at her boyfriend's house and vice versa. The situation with my daughter and her boyfriend is a bit more complex than with the average couple. I won't go into details out of respect of their privacy, but let's put it this way: there is never any worry on my side that she would fall pregnant at a young age or that they would even 'go there' for some time to come. He has been nothing but supportive towards her in every way and it is a true blessing to have him around. The kind of relationship they have...let me tell ya: it's what most people yearn for all their lives and hardly anyone ever has. You know: Romeo and Juliet without death. Besides this, I feel that once teenagers have set their minds to 'do' anything, they will do it anyway. And in my humble opinion I feel it is much better to have them under my roof if they were inclined to, rather than somewhere in a dirty alley.
They didn't have much to say about that.

The meeting concluded.
On our way out my friend J. remarked, looking at the time: "Well, it's surprising to see how fast things change once you file a complaint."

We'd been in the room for only 15 minutes.