Mick Wallace
Question:72. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the outstanding measures that are to be implemented in view of the publication of the child death review. [27991/14]
View answerTuesday, 1 July 2014
Questions (72)
Written answers
The National Review Panel was established in 2010 to review serious incidences and deaths of children in care in order to identify any areas for improvement. It is chaired by Dr. Helen Buckley and is independent in its functions. All cases of the death or of a serious incident concerning children in care, in aftercare or known to the Agency child protection services, in keeping with Health Information Quality Authority Guidance, are reviewed by the National Review Panel.
The National Review Panel’s individual and annual reports are published on the Child and Family Agency’s website and are available for the three year period between 2010 and 2012. The National Review Panel Annual Report of 2012 did not find that the action or inaction of the Agency contributed to the death of a child. The Panel did however find areas of practice that required improvement.
While it is important to acknowledge that in some cases, disappointing deficiencies in practice are highlighted, it is also important to acknowledge that case work has improved. Managers and front line professional staff are more aware of the importance of recognising and responding to neglect while making sure that the long term impact on the future health and well being of a child is also recognised and responded to with good quality services.
Improvements must also be made, where necessary, in the mechanism employed to review serious incidents and deaths of children in care. In this regard work has been ongoing between officials in my Department, the National Review Panel, the Child and Family Agency and HIQA to ensure that the process and procedures around reviews are further supported and strengthened so as to ensure that the panel is assisted in producing robust reports in a timely fashion.
In this regard the Guidance for the Reviews, originally drafted in 2010, is currently being revised. This document will address issues in relation to the timing and publication of reports, implementation plans and reviews for panel recommendations and reporting lines for the panel to ensure its independence. I also intend to strengthen the operation of the National Review Panel by asking HIQA to undertake an audit/oversight role in relation to the processes of the Panel to which HIQA have agreed in principle.
I anticipate that a new Guidance document, agreed between all stakeholders, will emerge in the coming weeks.
Since the establishment of the Agency significant reform centred on co-ordination, accountability, oversight and multi-agency working has commenced and includes:
- A national service delivery model to ensure effective oversight and accountability in meeting the needs of young people.
- Out of hours services had been expanded to address the needs of young people who present in emergency situations outside of normal working hours.
- A new assessment framework which provides greater oversight of Care Plans or Child Protection Plans. Care planning is also now benchmarked and monitored against national guidance.
- A Memorandum of Understanding between the Agency and the Health Service Executive ensures that complex cases are discussed across agencies at six weekly intervals. Multi-agency working is also being improved through the development of protocols around information sharing.
- A dedicated Aftercare Service to standardise the delivery of Leaving and Aftercare services across the country so that every young person who is eligible will be provided with services to meet their specific needs.