Dara Calleary
Question:23Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her implementation plan for the introduction of 24 hour social work service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33373/12]
View answerChild Care Services
Questions (6)
Oral answers (5 contributions)
As I indicated to Deputy Healy in my earlier response, the current arrangements for out-of-hours services are that the Health Service Executive provides out-of-hours emergency services for children at risk in the greater Dublin area through the crisis intervention service and outside the greater Dublin area through the emergency place of safety service. I have had discussions with Gordon Jeyes, national director for children and family services in the HSE, on the roll-out of the national service model. It was clear in the recently published report on child death that young people who leave care are vulnerable. I expect the HSE will bring forward an outline model for this service later this year.
It is important and critical that children in crisis, no matter where they are, have access to 24-hour social work assistance and supports. I am in agreement with the director on this point and we are working towards its implementation. I am committed to a service that the new child and family support agency can implement. The current arrangements for out-of-hours services are those in Dublin and the crisis intervention service outside Dublin. The nationwide model will be informed by the ongoing work on the pilot projects, which will continue this year. We have the reports and the evaluation is also completed. Mr. Gordon Jeyes will examine the pilot projects, the evaluation of them carried out by the HSE and also the outside evaluation which is now available.
In the Donegal area there were only eight referrals, nevertheless important referrals, and in Cork there were 29. Clearly, there is a demand for the service. Equally, the foster care arrangement now in place throughout the country is a huge improvement on the way these issues were dealt with previously, where gardaí were left to deal with very difficult crisis situations involving children. Unfortunately, these situations arise and they also arise out of hours.
The report of the independent child death review panel highlighted the inadequacy of our social worker service and the fact that in many parts of the country there is no service outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. should it be required. There is no control over the timing of when such a service is required so there is an urgent need for the Minister to direct the HSE to take every step required to ensure that a 24 hour social worker service is established as a matter of absolute priority. The Minister indicated that the numbers are small in some cases, but it is crucial that in cases dealing with vulnerable children a social worker is available out of hours when required. There must not be any delays relating to evaluations. We know this is required and it is crucial that the Minister prioritises it. I realise this is difficult in a situation where there is pressure on social worker services, but could the Minister give a timeline for when we can expect to have a 24 hour service across the country?
As the Deputy said, access to a service is important. The form in which that will be provided can vary, but it is access to the service and to the right type of assessment that is critical, so that somebody can assess the crisis and ensure the right action is taken. The evaluation has shown that there is clear potential for such a service nationally. I am told it can be relatively inexpensive. It is important to note that usage is and has been low in the pilot schemes. I agree with the Deputy it is an important addition to the range of child welfare and protection services in Ireland. The director is committed to developing an appropriate service in urban and rural areas. The service in place at present is much improved on the previous situation but there is a need to have a national plan.
As I have repeatedly said with regard to child and family support services, the area has been bedevilled by a lack of national planning, and this is another example. There has been no national planning for out-of-hours services. The Deputy is correct that we must move towards a national plan. A national protocol will have to be established with regard to how this service will operate to ensure there are more standardised procedures and supports around the country for people who need services. That work will have to be done. It will be greatly aided by the two pilot projects and the evaluation Trinity College conducted of those projects. That material must be brought together and we must do it quickly and ensure the plan is in place in September or October clearly outlining what a national service would look like and how it can be moved forward in the best possible way given the restraints that exist, as we must be realistic about the resource issue in the context of current resources, to ensure a service is available for those in crisis.
With regard to the two pilot projects, has there been an assessment, with the exception of the Trinity College report, of the extent of public knowledge in the two pilot areas of the out of hours or 24-7 service? While the Minister cited the number who have taken up the opportunity, it is important to assess awareness. Having accessibility without awareness does not address the issue.
It ought to be a no-brainer that accessibility for 24 hours per day is extremely important. It is of little doubt to any of us here that the times of greatest risk are during the evening, at night and at weekends. Social worker support is not just a matter of provision from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday. This does not address the real need. We need to assess the real need and ask whether the pilot projects have identified it. Has the Minister further information on awareness? Does she accept that everybody wishes to see the service rolled out as early as possible?
The Deputy's point on people's knowledge of the service is very reasonable. I understand it is addressed somewhat. An issue arises as to members of the Garda and relevant personnel knowing the service is available. This clearly needs to be addressed, and it should be addressed in the national protocol that will be rolled out.
The review recommends a joint protocol for the HSE, An Garda Síochána and the placement providers. That would need to be developed. It would include the private, voluntary and statutory providers such that there would be a broad range of common practices around the country. There is clearly work to be done but it has started. We can benefit from the pilot projects and the evaluation. We need to learn the lessons to be learned and develop the road map for the development of the service.
Child Care Services
Questions (7)
Martin Ferris
Question:24Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of social workers employed in the State in child services on 2 July 2012; the number of social workers in child services on long term sick leave, sabbatical and secondment to another Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33333/12]
View answerOral answers (16 contributions)
The HSE compiles a monthly census of employment in the public health and social care sector. The latest data available, which are in respect of April 2012, indicate there were 1,190 whole-time equivalent, WTE, child and family social workers employed in the HSE and in directly funded agencies.
The latest HSE records indicate there are 32 social workers on career break, with a WTE value of 26.54. The numbers of social workers in child services on long-term sick leave or secondment for three HSE regions are six in HSE Dublin mid-Leinster, one in HSE Dublin north east and eight in HSE west. I do not have information from HSE south but I have asked the HSE to furnish it. On receiving it, I will forward it to the Deputy.
The national director of children and family services, Mr. Gordon Jeyes, will continue to apply discretion to the filling of social work vacancies, taking account of recent early retirements and identified need, subject to services being delivered within available resources.
I would have liked to have had the relevant detail before me. Sometimes it can be difficult to absorb the information, particularly when it is in statistical format such as that presented.
Much has been made of the employment of new social workers. This is always very welcome but there is continuing confusion as to the number of social workers actually working in the system. I was trying to establish the real picture on sick leave, sabbaticals and secondment to other Departments. Has the Minister a breakdown for these three elements alone or has she just a single figure applying to three of the four HSE areas?
When one considers the report of the child death review group, one notes there is a case to be made for further social worker posts, despite the economic difficulties we all face today. Has the Minister any projection for the number of social workers that will be needed once the Children First guidelines are placed on a statutory footing and once the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill is passed? Will we have difficulty coping with all the additional needs I and others believe will arise on the basis of current numbers? The current position is not sustainable. Can the Minister give us further news on the creation of new social worker posts? This was a key requirement according to the recommendations of the Ryan report.
I have listened very carefully to the exchanges between the Minister and my colleague spokesman on children, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, and have noted there are two very different views on the number recruited over the past 12 months. This does not help us to understand the full facts. We need a full complement based on established need. I want assurances on projected need.
The position is very clear; the current number of social workers employed in child and family services is 1,190. This figure includes 258 of the 263 posts recruited to date in line with the recommendations in the Ryan report. The report analysed this matter and its authors suggested the recruitment of an extra 270 social workers in total. In recent months, a significant number of vacancies has arisen, primarily as a result of retirements but also due to career breaks and extended leave.
As I stated, the HSE's national director has been given the authority to fill key vacancies. The HSE is recruiting 57 social workers to fill recent vacancies that have arisen across all care groups. The posts are at various stages of recruitment. In effect, we have the number of social workers that were in place previously. Additional social workers are being recruited and this process is ongoing. There was some movement in and out of the service, as will be the case given the kinds of numbers that obtain in a national service.
There is a point I need to make that was made by Mr. Gordon Jeyes in response to questions asked of him at a committee meeting on resources. He stated in response to questions from Deputies Ó Caoláin and McConalogue that he remained unconvinced that we are making the most effective use of resources. He told the Deputies that while he was deeply conscious that the system was under pressure, he was not prompted to say more resources comprise the only solution. He told the Deputies the current financial circumstances should lead to a debate on prioritisation and that work should be prioritised within the resources available. That is not to say that if there were more resources available, all else being equal, they would not be used effectively in this area. I have no doubt that they would be.
When there were many resources available to the State, it was quite clear that with regard to the kinds of changes needed to have the kind of national service we have been discussing, be it in respect of after-hours service or national high support and special care services, key policy decisions were not taken. Some of them have considerable implications for finance. Therefore, it is not just a question of increasing the number of social workers but of determining what they are doing, how other agencies are interacting with them, how the work is referred among the many services we are supporting financially, including voluntary services, and how the work is being organised among the voluntary and the statutory services. There are many issues that enter this discussion.
While Mr. Gordon Jeyes did give the reply indicated by the Minister - I was the questioner in that instance – he did not say additional social workers were not required. That was very clear. As with Mr. Jeyes, I accept it is not just a question of the further recruitment of social workers.
We are all supportive of greater efficiencies within the cohort currently engaged and within the systems in place. That is important. However, the Minister is not the person tasked with the recruitment of the additional number of social workers. How efficient is it that, in July 2012, she still refers to ongoing recruitment in respect of the 57 posts? It has been ongoing for how long and for how long into the future? It reaches a point at which it can no longer be an ongoing process. It needs to come to an end. The cohort of people identified and required should be in place and giving of their professional services.
I call Deputy McConalogue briefly.
I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for this opportunity to follow up on a previous answer given to me by the Minister. Numerous times last year, the Minister assured the House that she was working towards recruiting 60 additional social workers in 2011. At the start of this year, she needed to admit to us that she had only recruited 14. These are the Minister's figures. We may argue the case, but the proof lies in one of the Minister's previous replies. She indicated that, as of February 2011, 94.5% of children in the State's care had assigned social workers but that the figure has since dropped to 92%. This is a reflection on the pressure in the system and on the fact that the State has failed in its commitment to follow the implementation plan of the Ryan report.
At the beginning of last year, there was an exemption to the recruitment embargo and each position that had become vacant was back-filled. The Minister should reinstate that exemption. Otherwise, the decline in the number of children in State care who have assigned social workers will continue.
I thank Deputy McConalogue but I must call the Minister for a final reply. We have gone over time.
Mr. Jeyes indicated that it was not just a question of resources but neither did he indicate that he did not need more resources, as Deputy Ó Caoláin highlighted. The least that we can do is put in place the lessons learned from the report of the child death review group.
This is Question Time.
That we are going backwards when we should be making progress is scandalous.
As I told the Deputy the last time we discussed this matter, his figures are incorrect. Of the 263 additional posts recommended by the Ryan report, 258 have been recruited. As I mentioned to Deputy Ó Caoláin, a significant number of vacancies have arisen due to retirements, career breaks, extended leave, etc. The national director has the authority to fill those positions, as they lie outside the embargo-----
The Minister should give him a direction.
-----and he is recruiting for them. The 57 recruitments will take the normal course. Some have already been offered and some staff are already in place. The recruitment is going ahead. There is no embargo.
However, I take the Deputy's point. This is an area in which there is high demand, the work is challenging and social workers require support. I pay tribute to the front line work being done, but difficult issues have emerged over many years, as the Deputy knows.
Fewer children have been assigned social workers.
Deputy, please.
For example, inexperienced social workers on the front line are often asked to undertake complex work without the kinds of supervision and support that are required. This situation cannot be turned around overnight. I am impressed by the new management system that the new director has put in place. The number of managers has been reduced, a more national approach is being taken to the collection of data and clearer risk assessments. This last was called for by the child death report. Other agencies, in particular child, family and mental health services, need to be involved in supporting the efforts of social workers.
One can parse and analyse any period of two or three months, but the overall trend in the recruitment of social workers is upward. That demands are also increasing is without question. Mr. Jeyes will continue to analyse the precise number of social workers that he wishes to see in place to deal effectively and diligently with these complex cases.
Child and Family Support
Questions (8)
Seán Crowe
Question:25Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has received the final report from the Task Force established to look at setting up the new Child and Family Support Agency; if it will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33337/12]
View answerOral answers (9 contributions)
The task force that I established to advise on the necessary transition programme to set up a child and family support agency has undertaken a considerable body of work. I met the task force at its 18th meeting last month for an update on this work and I anticipate that the final report will be submitted in July. The report will be brought to the Government, laid before the Oireachtas and published. It will contain advice on a number of key issues that will inform the preparation of the necessary legislation to establish the new agency. In particular, this will include a vision for the agency, proposed governance arrangements and advice on the services that the task force considered appropriate for inclusion in the agency's remit.
The commitment to establish a new child and family support agency is at the heart of the Government's reform of child and family services. The establishment of a single agency, underpinned by legislation and incorporating key children and family services, will provide a focus for the major reforms that are under way. This reform programme contains a number of critical elements, those being, the need for a comprehensive change programme to improve the quality and consistency of child welfare and protection services; the introduction of legislation to place Children First on a statutory basis; and the establishment for the first time of a dedicated budget for children and family services, providing transparency and accountability for the use of resources to meet national priorities. Previously, the budget formed part of a larger budget and underwent a great deal of movement, particularly at the end of each year when demands were made by hospital budgets, for example. The reform programme will also involve the transition of existing HSE child protection and welfare and services into the new agency; the merger of the existing Family Support Agency, which has a budget of more than €26 million, into the new agency; and consideration of the potential for further rationalisation of services for children under the new agency.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
A comprehensive change programme is being implemented under the leadership of Mr. Gordon Jeyes, national director of child and family services. The change programme is designed to enhance the level and consistency of child welfare and protection services significantly. This change process will continue into the new agency, of which Mr. Jeyes will be the first chief executive.
Extensive work is under way in my Department, the HSE and through the task force that I set up last September to prepare for the agency's establishment. I am satisfied that we are making excellent progress in terms of the preparatory work required to meet the Government's ambitious timetable, which will see the agency assuming full statutory responsibility for services for children and families early in 2013.
The Minister has referred to 18 meetings, that she met the task force recently and that, this month, she expects to receive the final report, which she has confirmed will be placed before the Houses.
The final report is critical in respect of the establishment of the child and family support agency in the new year. Will we have an opportunity to peruse it? Will the Minister circulate it upon receipt to Opposition voices so that we can have time to inform ourselves? Will she indicate a facilitation to address the report's content on the resumption of the new Dáil session? The child and family support agency will be a major step in the new year. It should be a given that we would all have an opportunity to engage properly with the report of the task force at the first opportunity. Clearly, that opportunity will not present before the end of next week, but perhaps soon after. Will the Minister indicate that we will have that opportunity and will she let us know that we will not need to wait until the resumption of the Dáil to have sight of the content of the report?
I can confirm that I will publish it on receipt and will circulate it to all Members in the House. It will also be available for people to read and respond to. I welcome a debate both within and outside the Houses on the work. Great care has been taken and much hard work has been put in by the members of the task force since last September, when I appointed them. It has taken submissions from a very wide range of statutory and non-statutory bodies, seeking their views on how best to deliver services to children and families. It also considered how best to organise services in order to meet the needs of children and families; it is about meeting their needs rather than the needs of the services or the professionals.
It will address those key issues and I look forward to hearing the views of the Deputy and Deputy McConalogue on the task force. It has given us its best thinking on how to progress the development of the agency.
I welcome the Minister's commitment to lay the report of the task force before the Oireachtas. As the Minister knows, this is not just about setting up a new agency but how the agency operates and what exactly it does. We went from a position in the past where social work and child protection was the responsibility of health boards to where it came within the HSE's ambit. There were many problems with that agency so setting up a new body will not necessarily mean the problems will not happen again. It is absolutely critical that this is done correctly. I welcome the Minister's commitment to lay the report before the Oireachtas.
This is the last Question Time for this Minister before the recess. She received the fifth report to the Oireachtas of the special rapporteur on child protection in April and as yet, we have not had it laid before the House. That is not acceptable as it is a report to the House. I ask that at the very least, the Minister would ensure it is laid before the Houses go into recess.
I take the points made by the Deputies on the importance of this report and that we have a comprehensive discussion on its recommendations. It suggests the potential blueprint for the establishment of the new agency and, as such, it is critical to have a good discussion on its recommendations and the implementation of same. With regard to the report of the special rapporteur, the procedure is that when the report is received, it is sent to other Departments for comment. That is the normal procedure as it would refer to work done by other Departments.
It is a report to the Oireachtas.
Yes, but the normal process is to ask other Departments to respond to it. Those responses have been received and I hope to be in a position to place the report before the Houses before the Dáil concludes this term.
Child Care Services
Questions (9)
Billy Kelleher
Question:26Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when she expects to finalise a plan to update screening and monitoring of childcare facilities; the number of inspections of childcare facilities carried out in 2011; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33387/12]
View answerOral answers (3 contributions)
Preschool services, including child minding services, are currently regulated under the Child Care (Pre-School Services) (No. 2) Regulations 2006, as provided for under Part VII of the Child Care Act 1991.
Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services, including the inspection of child care facilities, was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. The notification and inspection service is managed by the preschool inspection teams of the HSE appointed by the executive as authorised persons for this purpose. These teams also provide an advisory service to the services which are statutorily required to notify in order to assist them in achieving and maintaining the appropriate standard. They also provide information to interested persons, including parents, on preschool services in the area.
Following inspection of a service the inspectors provide the service provider with a report on the outcome of the inspection. I understand the HSE is committed to working towards the on-line publication of the standard inspection reports of preschool facilities and I welcome that. In the meantime the HSE is encouraging child care providers to share the information in the reports with parents when requested, and that should happen.
I understand from information supplied by the HSE that 2,789 inspections were undertaken, 704 review and follow-up inspections and 755 advisory visits were made to child care facilities in 2011. By international standards, that is a high proportion of visitation, at 61%, to child care facilities in any one year. Some other countries have a procedure with a roll-over of inspections so that one facility might be inspected every two or three years.
The early years sector has grown significantly over the last decade and in parallel with this new quality and curriculum frameworks have been introduced. In light of all of these developments, the regulation of the sector will be reviewed as part of the early years strategy. For the first time we will have a national strategy and I recently appointed the group to work and develop the policy. It is being developed to cover a range of issues affecting children in their first years of life such as health, family support, learning and development and care and education. It will identify the structures and policies needed to improve early years experience in Ireland and examine child care issues.
Reports in the past couple of weeks illustrated some of the issues with some child care and crèche facilities. That emphasises the importance of ensuring there is a good inspection regime and every effort is made to ensure there is quality in the provision of child care facilities. One of the issues highlighted related to one person looking after 22 children in one crèche. The vast majority of crèches run very well but we must ensure there is a robust inspection regime and every service receives a visit in a year to reassure parents that children are being cared for appropriately in a safe environment.
I agree that we must have a very clear focus on quality and standards in early years. Significant improvements have been made but there must be ongoing work to ensure there is a robust system of regulation and inspection. That is one of the reasons I have included in the terms of reference of the new early years group to review the inspection regime and make recommendations on how it can be strengthened and how the standards which should be met can best be achieved. We also need more consistency in the inspections currently being done.