Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 October 2012
213. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will indicate the extent if known to which child abuse, wilful neglect or serious deprivation is currently adequately followed up by the services; if she anticipates major improvement in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47104/12]
View answerThe HSE compiles monthly performance reports which provide an overall analysis of key performance data from finance, HR, hospital and primary and community services. In the area of children and family services this suite of indicators has recently been expanded to include new indicators aimed at capturing the responsiveness of services to referrals of concerns. These indicators include details of the number of referrals to child welfare and protection teams in the reporting period, the number of such referrals where a preliminary assessment took place within 24 hours, the number leading to initial assessments and the number of such assessments completed within 21 days.
These new performance indicators are being introduced in the context of the ongoing standardisation of business processes in the Children and Family Services of the HSE, the Reform Programme in the HSE with a single, national, service delivery model in development, and the introduction of a National Child Care Information System (NCCIS). The NCCIS will be the central system supporting Social Work services. As a social work case management system, it will be used to record and store the case history of every child and other clients of the service. Management information will be derived automatically from the case management system. In this regard, a national standardised business process has been implemented in each Integrated Service Area to ensure that data and systems are unified. The introduction of the NCCIS is a high priority and will help in the management of social work case management and will significantly improve the level, quality and accessibility of information in respect of Children and Family Services.
In this regard, the Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children, published in 2011, provides greater clarity and guidance for individuals and organisations in identifying and responding appropriately to child abuse and neglect. It also sets out what organisations that care for or work with children should do to ensure they are safe whilst in the organisation. The Government has committed, as a priority, to the introduction of legislation to underpin Children First and the Heads of the Bill have been prepared and submitted to the Committee for Health and Children for their consideration.
I am aware that the proposed legislation could give rise to a significant number of reports being made to the HSE and I am cognisant of the need for an effective filtering system to be put in place. In this regard, ‘Guidance for Reporting of Abuse’ is to be developed by my Department. This Guidance will deal with issues such as definitions, thresholds and appropriate routes for the reporting of abuse. The Guidance will be dependent on designated officers and professionals named in the legislation, considering a number of factors to see if the concern reaches the threshold of a report under the legislation.
It is important to note that Mr. Gordon Jeyes, HSE National Director Children and Family Services has given me an assurance that all referrals when initially received are assessed and the action taken is prioritised by risk. In addition, the new Child and Family Support Agency with dedicated responsibility for the delivery of child welfare and protection services is to be established. A new model to deal effectively with referrals is being developed to ensure that all child welfare and protection reports receive a service promptly from the range of family support services and child protection services available.
