Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 November 2013
402. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is satisfied that the rights of parents and children are adequately provided for and preserved in all cases where children have been put into care over the past four years; the extent to which any particular issues have been brought to her attention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48293/13]
View answerUnder the Child Care Act 1991, the HSE has a statutory duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. If a child is in need of care and protection and is unlikely to receive it at home, then the HSE has a duty to ensure they receive appropriate care. In the performance of this function, the HSE must "take such steps as it considers requisite to identify children who are not receiving adequate care and protection and co-ordinate information from all relevant sources relating to children; having regard to the rights and duties of parents, whether under the Constitution or otherwise - (i) regard the welfare of the child as the first and paramount consideration, and (ii) in so far as is practicable, give due consideration, having regard to his age and understanding, to the wishes of the child; have regard to the principle that it is generally in the best interests of a child to be brought up in his own family".
Once a child is in State care there are secondary legislation instruments and National Standards to protect their rights and guide with greater precision how that is to be achieved, for example:
- The system of protection that HSE may offer is highly codified in law and covers a range of family support through to care arrangements and also provides for both voluntary arrangements, entered into by parents and guardians, as well as court-ordered arrangements for the alternative care. These latter arrangements are determined by the court authorities having regard to the various rights of both children and parents set out in the Constitution. Specifically, as regards the views of the child, Section 26 of the Child Care Act, 1991 provides for the appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) in respect of child care proceedings where a child is not party to those proceedings and where the court is satisfied that it is in the child’s best interests to have a GAL appointed. A GAL is appointed at the discretion of the Court and all fees, including legal fees, are paid by the HSE. Their primary function is to provide a voice for the child in Court where the child is not party to the care proceedings. They promote the child’s best interests to the Court.
- A child protection social worker assigned to a child placed in a care setting has a duty to prepare and regularly review the care plan for the child. Intrinsic to this process is ensuring that the wishes of the child and his or her family are considered, that access and contact is facilitated between the child, parents and siblings (unless there is a court agreed reason not to do so), and that full engagement takes place with the child and their family with a view to planning the child’s return home. A significant amount of work takes place between social workers and parents to create a situation where a child could return home, including referrals for parent(s) for relationship counselling, substance misuse or mental health issues.
- The National Standards for Foster Care 2003 state that “children and young people in foster care are encouraged and facilitated to maintain and develop family relationship and friendships”. They also state “the families of children in foster care are involved in their care, in partnership with social workers and foster carers unless this is detrimental to the well being of the children, in which case the reasons for excluding them are recorded on the case files”.
- The National Standards for Residential Care state that "visits from family members, significant others and friends are encouraged and facilitated in private”. They go on to state “where young person has lost contact with a parent , family or significant others the supervising social worker and staff members actively seek to re establish contact and to identify key people within the extended family to provide support”.
- Access and contact by relatives to a child in care is based on the needs of the child. In most cases access to family is actively promoted and encouraged unless the access is posing a risk to the child or is causing the child distress. A child's view with regard to access is also sought where age appropriate and this view is to be respected.
In addition to the role of the courts, there are further measures to monitor the application of standards. Currently HIQA inspects HSE children’s residential care and child protection services and all foster care service under the Child Care Act, 1991 and the Health Act, 2007, and reports on findings to the Minister. HIQA publishes inspection reports on its website. The HSE inspect and register children’s residential centres run by the private and voluntary sectors. All inspections are undertaken against National Standards developed by the Department of Health prior to HIQA’s establishment. This process has revised and will continue to raise specific local quality improvement changes but will also contribute to corporate learning regarding the provision of these services.
Other important initiatives to inform our understanding include, for example, publication of the interim report of the Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP). This is a project which I have supported since its inception, and made the relevant regulations to allow the attendance of the project personnel in the courts. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is one of the co-funders of the project, along with Atlantic Philanthropies and One Foundation.
The report is a crucial first step in improving the transparency of the conduct of child care proceedings, and informing the public and policy makers of how children are protected through the operation of the provisions of the Child Care Act 1991. While this is an interim report, there is a significant amount of valuable information contained in the report which can be used to inform policy making on an on-going basis.
The CCLRP will provide invaluable information about the operation of the Child Care Act, which is the mechanism used by the HSE, in exceptional circumstances, and with the welfare of the child as the paramount consideration, to make applications to court to take children into care. These are very serious decisions, with long term impacts on the child and the family and the more information that is available about the process, while protecting the identity of vulnerable children and families, the better we can ensure the welfare and protection of children.
