Inspection finds lack of staff impacts social worker visits for children at risk

From the Galway City Tribune – An inspection of the child protection and welfare service for children in Galway and Roscommon deemed at risk of abuse has found that a lack of staff is impacting on the frequency of visits by social workers.

The complex needs of one particular child was not being met as a result of not being able to find a suitable foster home.

There were 40 children listed as active on Tusla’s Child Protection Notification System (CPNS) – 62.5% were under 10 years of age. A further 14 children had been delisted in the previous six months.

A report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) into the Galway-Roscommon Tusla area revealed there were eight whole time equivalent social work vacancies, one team leader and one senior social work vacancy on the child protection and welfare team.

The inspectors found that overall, the service operated by the child and family agency had strong and effective leadership, governance and management arrangements in place.

Children listed on Tusla’s Child Protection Notification System (CPNS) received “a consistent, good quality service that was well-led” in the Galway-Roscommon area.

Of the six National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children assessed, three were found to be compliant, two were substantially compliant and one was found to be non-compliant. The latter was in relation to the requirement to have inter-agency cooperation to meet children’s needs. The fact that the service was unable to find “alternative care placements” for the child with complex needs led inspectors to failing Tusla when assessing this.

“Inspectors found that children who were at risk of significant harm had child protection safety plans in place to protect and promote their welfare. However, improvements were required in relation to the frequency of visits to children listed as active on the CPNS, and in the quality and monitoring of safety plans,” the report states.

“The service supported and promoted multidisciplinary involvement and cooperation to ensure that the needs of children were met in a timely way. There were communication systems in place to ensure that information was appropriately shared with the relevant professionals. However, challenges in the provision of suitable alternative care placements in the area had resulted in the needs of a child with complex needs not being met.”

Tusla said it is currently recruiting for staff in the area to address the impact of staff vacancies on the frequency of visits.

“In the meantime, the area is managing this to ensure that children and families continue to receive a safe service. All children in the area who are listed on the CPNS have an allocated social worker,” it pointed out.

John Donnellan, Tusla area manager for Galway Roscommon, said the report highlights many examples of the good work done by Tusla staff in the area on a day-to-day basis.

“We are pleased that the area was found by inspectors to have high levels of compliance. However, we are also aware that we have further work to do to ensure that children and their families continue to receive a safe and effective service in Galway and Roscommon.

“Tusla has agreed a number of actions with HIQA to further improve the service and to build upon the foundation of good work that is carried out by our staff.”

He noted the finding that there was a culture of openness within the service, with a strong emphasis on quality improvement and good communication systems in place.

Work is ongoing with the HSE to meet the complex and additional needs of the particular young person in the community that inspectors met, he said.
This article first appeared in the print edition of the Galway City Tribune, October 21. You can support our journalism by subscribing to the Galway City Tribune HERE. The print edition is in shops every Friday.