Our Children’s Team continues to monitor children’s residential centres, and is completing the follow-up foster care inspection programme in each of the four Child and Family Agency (Tusla) regional areas: West, South, Dublin North East, and Dublin Mid-Leinster.
All published inspection reports are available on our website, www.hiqa.ie.
Meanwhile, based on the findings of our recent investigation, HIQA — in consultation with Tusla, the relevant professional organisations and children’s advocacy groups — will begin the design in 2018 of an inspection programme to promote improvement in child protection and welfare services.
In June, HIQA published its findings and recommendations of the statutory investigation, carried out upon the direction of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, into the management of allegations of child sexual abuse against adults of concern by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla).
During the investigation, our Investigation Team found many examples of good practice by committed Tusla staff in how they were managing allegations of child sexual abuse and retrospective abuse (allegations made by adults about being abused when they were children).
Ann Ryan, our National Head of Programme, Children’s Services, commented: “Tusla staff were openly committed to child protection and welfare, and a number of managers openly took on board the investigation’s findings at that time and immediately addressed any risks identified.
“Similar to earlier inspection findings, Tusla appropriately responded to children who were judged to be at immediate and serious risk of harm. In these situations, there was good cooperation between Tusla and An Garda Síochána in taking protective action to ensure that children were safe.”
Furthermore, Tusla has strategically developed some dedicated teams for managing cases where adults allege they were abused when they were children. There was evidence to show that this approach is helping to increase the effectiveness of how retrospective child sexual abuse referrals are managed.
The investigation identified three defective points in Tusla’s system of managing all child sexual abuse referrals, including retrospective referrals, which Tusla must now address as a matter of urgency. These were:
a. screening and preliminary enquiry
b. safety planning
c. management of retrospective cases.
In its report, HIQA made four main recommendations for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and for Tusla, in addition to other actions which Tusla must urgently take.
These include the Department setting up an expert quality assurance and oversight group to support and advise on implementing the report’s recommendations and the Department and Tusla seeking the assistance of the higher education and training bodies to create formal career-paths for students and graduates to reinforce child protection and welfare services.
In addition, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs with the assistance of Tusla will undertake an international review of best practice in the regulation of children’s social services in order to inform the development of a regulatory framework for these services in Ireland.
The report is available on our website here.