Children who are unable to live with their parent(s) for their welfare and protection are taken into the care of the Child and Family Agency and placed mainly in foster care. Less than 1% of children in care with specialised needs are placed in a High Support or Special Care Unit.
The Child and Family Agency informed my Department on 16th January 2014, that revised arrangements for the management of cases under consideration for a special care placement were being implemented. The reason for the change was that the Agency found the circumstances for some children on the waiting list had changed quite radically and this distorted their priority need for a special care placement. An example was where a child was sent to a detention school for a specified period and was therefore no longer in immediate need of a special care placement. Other cases included where a child's situation improved, having been provided with supports in their placement, and they were no longer in need of a place in special care. Children who were on remand or detention or on the waiting list for longer than 8 weeks prior to the new arrangements were removed to allow each social worker to reassess the child's risk profile. In order to be reconsidered for a special care placement, the reassessment must provide evidence to the Admissions Committee that the young person again meets the criteria for Special Care. The practice where a social worker sought a prioritised place on the waiting list, in case the child's situation in their current placement deteriorated, but there was no immediate need identified was also discontinued. These new measures, which were introduced with immediate effect, reduced the waiting list to zero pending the undertaking of reassessments. As I informed the Deputy on 12th February 2014, I was advised by the Agency that there was no child awaiting a placement in Special Care at that time. I am informed that there were two children waiting for placement in Special Care on 21st March 2014.
The Agency advised that as of the 21st March there were 17 children in the three Special Care Units - ten are in Ballydowd, four in Gleann Alainn and three in Coovagh House. There were three children residing in Crannog Nua High Support Unit.
The Agency is committed to designing and developing a comprehensive continuum of care services to meet the divergent and complex needs of all children in care. A national review of all residential care is underway. I am assured that this review will direct planning to ensure that appropriate placements are accessible to children with varying and complex needs.
