Sister in foster care

LennyPink

My sister is in foster care and I would like her to live with me.
She is in care because our mother died and our father is unfit to care for her. Growing up we bounced in and out of our dads custody. Now my brother and I are both over 18, have no contact with our dad and have been doing much better without him. My sister is 15 and was removed from dad by the Garda for her safety. She was place in care and since then our dad has lost/given up guardianship.
I have a stable life. I am in college, no criminal record, I have never been in trouble. I have spent years working in child care and have worked with kids in care before returning to education. I have family support (from relatives that cared for my sister, brother and myself) and the support of friends.
The social workers feel like I am too irresponsible to raise my sister (I am in my mid 20s).
I can house/feed/clothe my sister, I know her background, I love her to pieces. I have no need for child care over the summer and through homework clubs and 2 family members (1 that used to work as a youth worker for the HSE and 1 that cared for us when out father was not around) I can cover child care during the academic year. I have at one point been the sole carer for my sister (for a month while my dad was unable to care for her). At different points I have taken care of her either for shorter periods of time or with the support of other family members. She has lived with me since I have left my fathers care. She has mental health issues and the social workers have said I am not responsible enough to handle her medication. I am seeing our family GP to get a letter says other wise.
Part of the problem is my dad has moved a lot (20+ moves spread over 3 countries) so our records are hard to track down. Currently my sister and dad live a few counties over (and in a different jurisdiction). This is the first issues in this jurisdiction so they have no record of our history. The last time my sister was in foster care was 3 years go in a different country. I am waiting on a meeting with a solicitor and trying to organise paperwork. I also have a meeting with social workers next week. My sister has repetitively said she wants to live with me to socials workers.
Any advice on what I can do to make this work smoother/faster would be wonderful. (Thank you for reading a very long post.)

ElleEm

To become a foster carer, you must first be approved as a general foster carer, even if it is for a family member. Ring your local HSE foster department to get insight into how to start the process.