Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2012
419 Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of cases the National Educational Welfare Board is currently managing, that is, the number of new cases received in 2011; the number of cases in total that are being dealt with by the 85 welfare officers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33138/12]
View answer420 Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs regarding non-attendance at school, if she is satisfied that there is enough staff in the National Educational Welfare Board; if she envisages a transfer of staff from other sections of the public service to meet the needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33190/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 419 and 420 together.
The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), under the auspices of my Department, has a statutory remit to ensure that "each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education”. In particular, the NEWB has a key role to respond to instances where children are not attending school regularly, or where there is concern about a child’s educational welfare. The Educational Welfare Service, and its network of Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs), is a key resource for the Board in delivering on this statutory remit.
The NEWB further has strategic and operational responsibility for the School Completion Programme and the Home School Community Liaison Scheme and is developing an integrated service to better respond to the complexity of issues that impact on children and young people's attendance, participation and retention in the education system.
With regard to the issue of caseloads, when a young person is referred to the Board by a school, parent or another agency, the initial work of the EWO is to assess the nature, scope and depth of the problem. Each case generally falls between two distinct categories i.e. those requiring intensive casework and those requiring brief interventions.
I have been advised by the Board that in 2011, the Board's EWOs worked with 3,845 children requiring Intensive Casework. Of the 3,845 cases, 1093 were new cases. In addition, EWOs worked with a further 12,062 children by providing assistance through Brief Interventions.
The NEWB is staffed with 72 front line personnel (57 Educational Welfare Officers, 12 Senior Educational Welfare Officers and 3 Regional Managers) and a further 19 staff in management and administrative support work in head quarters and at regional locations. The Board also has strategic and operational responsibility for 403 HSCL co-ordinators, 250 full-time SCP staff and several hundred sessional SCP personnel which are overseen by 5 Service Managers in the Board.
Vacancies that arise in staffing front line services for children and young people at risk of early school leaving are prioritised by my Department in so far as possible working within Government policy on public service numbers and the moratorium on recruitment.
The Board has prioritised the introduction of a new integrated practice and case management system bringing together the Educational Welfare Service, the Home School Community Liaison Scheme and the School Completion Programme.
