Thursday, 27 Mar 2014

Written Answers Nos 1-14

Bullying of Children

Questions (7)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

7. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will indicate arising from her Departmental study entitled Growing up in Ireland, the extent to which issues raised therein such as social bullying amongst young persons, bullying in the workplace and bullying through social media or otherwise continues to be a matter of concern having particular regard to the number of incidents brought to her Departments attention in the period since the publication of the study; the extent to which her Department finds itself in a position to interact with victims, make a positive protective intervention or otherwise formulate supportive influence or service; if the incidents reported to date can be used as a template to address the points raised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14011/14]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ Longitudinal Study, which looked at the child cohort at age nine, revealed that forty per cent of this age group reported being victims of bullying in the previous year. The data found that only twenty-three per cent of the mothers of the nine year-olds reported that their children had been victimised in the previous year and, of the children who had reported being bullied, only thirty-nine per cent of the mothers were aware that this had been the case. This indicates a lack of awareness on many parents' part that bullying is happening to their children. A national consultation with 66,700 children and young people, conducted by my Department in 2011, found bullying and peer pressure to be in the top eight things identified as "not good" by children and young people aged from 7 to 18 years.

Actions are being taken across Government to make positive protective interventions to combat bullying in all of its forms. Strengthening the collaboration and interaction between schools and youth services, which promote active participation by young people within their local communities, is an important element in countering bullying. In partnership with the HSE and National Youth Council of Ireland, my Department supports the National Youth Health Programme which provides a broad-based health promotion and education, support and training service to youth organisations and out-of-school settings.

The Anti-Bullying Working Group established by the Minister for Education and Skills, which produced the ‘Action Plan on Bullying’ in January 2013, recognised the need to tackle bullying in a holistic way, through schools but setting the issue in a wider social context. The Plan recommended the establishment of a national anti-bullying website to provide information to parents, young people, and people working with young people, on the types and methods of bullying and how to deal with this behaviour. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender young people, and those perceived as belonging to such a group, can be particular targets of bullying. This problem is being addressed through work with schools and youth groups led by BelongTo, an organisation which advocates for LGBT youth and works in both schools and the wider community and is part-funded by my Department. BelongTo recently launched the latest in what has been a series of awareness campaigns under the "Stand Up" banner, campaigns which have been recognised internationally as examples of good practice.

Internet bullying is also being addressed through initiatives promoted by the Department of Education and Skills such as Safer Internet Day, the Safer Internet Ireland Project and Webwise.ie. These initiatives aim to inform and educate parents and young people on safe internet use and advise people about what to do should they have concerns.

The issue of bullying is one which has far-reaching and dangerous consequences. Efforts to stem the growth in bullying must be concerted and must do everything they can to keep pace with the rapid changes in the ways in which our children and young people communicate with each other, and engage with the wider world.

Questions Nos. 8 to 11, inclusive, answered orally

Children in Care

Questions (12)

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

12. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the current number of children in high support units and in special care units with a breakdown based on the number of children accommodated in each unit; the way she could state that no child was waiting for a special care place as of her reply to Parliamentary Question No. 13 of 12 February 2014 when she indicated in her supplementary reply to Parliamentary Question No. 716 of 15 January 2014 that 12 children had been approved and were awaiting a special care placement. [14014/14]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

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.

Child Care Qualifications

Questions (13)

Robert Troy

Question:

13. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the main provisions of the learner fund to upskill early years practitioners; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14201/14]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

International evidence tells us that raising the qualification levels of staff working with children is key to improving the quality of services. As part of the quality agenda, therefore, I announced last year that by September 2015 all staff working with children in early years services would have to have a minimum Level 5 (on the National Qualifications Framework) qualification in early years care and education, or an equivalent qualification. In addition, by September 2015, Preschool Leaders delivering the free PreSchool Year programme will have to have a minimum Level 6 qualification, or equivalent.

The 2014 Budget included an allocation of €1.5 million in both 2014 and 2015, to help to support existing staff to meet the new qualification requirements. Yesterday I announced the launch of a Learner Fund, which will be administered by Pobal with the help of local City and County Childcare Committees. The Fund will provide funding for a two-year period specifically to assist existing staff working directly with children in registered early years services to meet the new requirements. The fund will be used to subsidise the cost for eligible learners to undertake accredited Level 5 and Level 6 courses provided by certain approved training providers. Training courses subsidised under this fund are expected to commence in September 2014. Full details of the eligibility criteria and how to apply are available on the Pobal website. Information was also provided through CCCs and through voluntary childcare organisations, as well as on my Department's website.

Training Providers interested in delivering some of this training anywhere in the country may submit an online Expression of Interest through a link on Pobal’s website during the next three weeks. To be eligible, Training Providers will need to meet a number of criteria including being registered with Quality and Qualifications Ireland with validated programmes of learning. The Expression of Interest process is expected to be completed by the end of May 2014 when an approved panel of training providers will be created for the Learner Fund. Individual applicants can submit an online application for a subsidised training course under the Learner Fund. To be eligible, they must be currently working directly with children in a registered early years service and meet the criteria for the Learner Fund which will be set out in the application process. Applications will be accepted for the next four weeks. The Learner Fund is limited and it is expected that applications will be considered on a “first-come” basis. Confirmation of the outcome of applications is expected to be completed in June 2014.

Further details are available on the Pobal website as well as on my Department's website.

Child Care Proceedings

Questions (14)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

14. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the findings of the Child Care Law Reporting Project that the rate of child care orders being sought varies considerably in different parts of the country; if her attention has been drawn to the large discrepancy in the figures between towns of comparable populations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14197/14]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

I launched the Child Care Law Reporting Project in November 2012 to provide information on the circumstances that lead the Child and Family Agency to seek Care and Supervision Orders in Court. The Project provides a snapshot report of selected cases from courts around the country. It does not report on all cases. The majority of cases reported on to date were in Dublin.

The report provides an account of the sad and sometimes tragic circumstances of children's lives, the work of the Agency in providing for their welfare and protection and the role of the courts in deciding on applications for the various orders.

The Project published Child Care Statistics for 2012 that are gathered by the Courts Service. These statistics show the court activity with respect to the numbers and types of applications being heard in Dublin and in 34 courts around the country and that the volume of applications varies greatly between towns of similar size. The figures relate to the number of orders rather than the number of children in care. There are no significant discrepancies in the number of children in care across the local areas. National data at 31/12/12, shows that 42% of children were in care by way of voluntary agreement with parent(s), 46% were under a Care Order, 9% were under an Interim Care Order and 2% under an Emergency Care Order.

The largest single category of application was for Interim Care Orders. This number is inflated in the period by a legal requirement for renewal of such orders every eight days. However, a change in legislation early in 2013 has reduced the need for repeat applications in 2013.

The Child and Family Agency, which was established on 1st January last, will bring a renewed focus on delivering safe and effective services for children and families who need a wide continuum of supports and interventions. The Agency will address the persistent issues which have been raised regarding the standardisation of approaches to dealing with families where there are concerns about the welfare and protection of children. Historically, some areas would have worked more on a voluntary basis with families where others would have sought the assistance of the Courts earlier.

It is a matter for the Court Services as to how they arrange for the hearing of child care proceedings in different areas and how they produce their statistics. I am not therefore in a position to comment further on the information on court activity provided in this report.