Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 October 2015
37. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the current number of cases where a social worker has not been allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35330/15]
View answerAn open case is one which is assessed as needing a dedicated (allocated) social work service. Of the total number of open cases at end July, some 20,118 had an allocated social worker and 7,209 were waiting to be allocated a social worker. A case refers to an individual child. There could be several cases opened when a family is referred. The number of cases waiting to be allocated a social worker is an issue that is being addressed by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The priority or category of high, medium or low given to the case after a preliminary enquiry, is based on information received on the case. It is important to note that "high priority" should not simply be equated with risk. Social work duty teams keep high priority cases under review by regular checking to ascertain risk to the child, and where necessary will reprioritise the case.
I wish to assure the Deputy that Tusla deals immediately with emergency cases, including for instance, if a child has been abandoned or is in immediate physical danger or at immediate risk of sexual abuse.
It should be noted that those cases awaiting allocation are responded to by a duty team on a risk management basis. Where a child does not have an allocated social worker assigned to their case there is a system of oversight by social workers to ensure that any change in the child's circumstances is addressed.
The additional funding of €38 million which I have secured for Tusla in 2016 will provide increased resources to meet identified risks and service demands.
