Written Answers Nos. 103-107
103. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the degree to which assistance remains available for children deemed to be at risk of self-harm, the support available to their families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36774/15]
View answerThe prime responsibility for policy in relation to the treatment and support for young people with mental health problems and those requiring medical care as a result of self harm currently lies with the Department of Health. The issue of mental health problems, including self harm in young people is a complex issue requiring inputs from a wide range of stakeholders including young people, parents, schools, the media, youth organisations and the Primary Care and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) of the Health Service Executive.
The Child and Family Agency, Tusla, works closely with other care providers including the HSE, in respect of access to primary care services, child and adolescent mental health services, disability and other services. Tusla and the HSE have in place both a Memorandum of Understanding and a Joint Protocol for inter-agency collaboration which underpins the provision of these services for children. The purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding is to set out the partnership agreement between the HSE and Tusla to continue pre-establishment levels of service across both organisations. The objective of the Joint Protocol is to specify a pathway and associated responsibilities for children and families whose needs cross between Health Service Divisions and Tusla.
Tusla is also proposing to put in place a Service Level Agreement with the HSE to strengthen current arrangements and to ensure the provision of effective services for children and families. The Service Level Agreement will determine the quantum of service needed to meet the Agency's requirements.
Children also have access to publicly funded child and adolescent mental health teams and primary care psychology services provided by the Health Service Executive. Additionally there are a number of services commissioned by social work departments around psychotherapeutic supports.
Clinical psychology services are directly provided by Tusla within multi-disciplinary teams deployed by the Assessment, Consultation and Therapy Service (ACTS). Services provided include assessment and focused interventions for children and young people with complex clinical needs and high risk behaviours. They also provide support to other professionals in order to guide interventions to children and families.
104. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which child psychology services remain adequate to meet demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36775/15]
View answerPsychology services for children are currently being provided by arrangement with the HSE. Tusla and the HSE have in place both a Memorandum of Understanding and a Joint Protocol for inter-agency collaboration which underpins the provision of these services for children. The purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding is to set out the partnership agreement between the HSE and Tusla to continue pre-establishment levels of service across both organisations. The objective of the Joint Protocol is to specify a pathway and associated responsibilities for children and families whose needs cross between Health Service Divisions and Tusla.
Tusla is also proposing to put in place a Service Level Agreement with the HSE to strengthen current arrangements. The Service Level Agreement will determine the quantum of service needed to meet the Agency's requirements.
Children also have access to publicly funded child and adolescent mental health teams and primary care psychology services provided by the Health Service Executive. Additionally there are a number of services commissioned by social work departments around psychotherapeutic supports.
Clinical psychology services are directly provided by Tusla within multi-disciplinary teams deployed by the Assessment, Consultation and Therapy Service (ACTS). Services provided include assessment and focused interventions for children and young people with complex clinical needs and high risk behaviours. They also provide support to other professionals in order to guide interventions to children and families.
As the Deputy will be aware, I announced a significant increase in the funding allocation to Tusla for next year. Tusla will have available to it some €676 million in funding, representing an increase of €38 million over 2015. This significant increase in funding will significantly strengthen Tusla's base funding level and will give the Agency greater capacity to respond to demand in 2016.
The Government, since its establishment, has attached particular priority to supporting vulnerable children and families and the significant increase in funding being made available to Tusla next year represents further evidence of our delivery on this ambition.
105. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which his Department continues to support Kildare youth services throughout the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36776/15]
View answerMy Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout the country. In 2015, funding of €49.9m has been provided to my Department for these schemes. There has been no reduction in the overall allocation for youth services in 2015 which was a key priority for youth organisations. An amount of €488,200 has been allocated for the projects and services under Kildare Youth Services, which operates under Youth Work Ireland.
My Department provides funding to Kildare Youth Services under the Special Projects for Youth Scheme in respect of six local youth projects in Athy, Naas, Leixlip, Newbridge, the Curragh and Kildare town and a Youth Information Centre in Naas. In addition, Kildare Youth Hub, Kildare Town has received approval under the 2013 Capital Scheme for the development of a new youth café facility.
The Deputy may also be interested in a new Youth Employability Initiative which I announced on the publication of the National Youth Strategy 2015 - 2020. The new Youth Employability Initiative is funded under the Dormant Accounts Scheme. It will provide €600,000 in grants to voluntary youth services for programmes that target disadvantaged young people to improve their employability. Full details of the Youth Employability Initiative are available on my Department's website, www.dcya.gov.ie.
I am pleased to tell the Deputy that Budget 2016 has provided an additional €1.1m in current funding to my Department to support the provision of youth services, by the voluntary youth sector. This will bring the allocation for the projects and services throughout the country to €51m in 2016. My Department will shortly commence work on the detailed allocations for local youth services and projects and every effort is being made to notify local projects of their allocation for 2016 in the coming weeks.
An additional €2.25m in capital allocation has also been provided in Budget 2016. In the main, the capital allocation will be used to support smaller scale projects in local youth services such as refurbishments, health and safety works and accessibility projects. Details of this new capital scheme will be advertised early in the new year.
106. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which his Department monitors the needs of children in direct provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36777/15]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, Direct Provision is under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality. Children living in Direct Provision are in the care of their parent(s). However, any concerns about the welfare, safety or well-being of a child in Direct Provision are reported to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, in line with Children First guidelines.
The needs of children in Direct Provision include education, child care such as preschool, medical and health issues. Tusla provides a range of services that offer advice and support to families. This includes family support workers, social workers, youth workers, family resource centres, support groups and counselling services. Preschools under Tusla have monitoring and inspection systems in place, according to national regulation and standards.
The Child and Family Services Unit within RIA that monitors the child and family services for asylum seekers is headed up by a seconded member of Tusla and links, where necessary directly with An Garda Síochána. RIA and other State providers, particularly the HSE and Tusla, link with Direct Provision centres to provide on-site monitoring of children and families through services including those provided by Public Health Nurses and GPs.
The Report of the Working Group on the Protection Process including Direct Provision and supports to asylum seekers, which was published in June 2015, includes a range of findings and recommendations concerning the development, welfare, protection and education of children. One of the recommendations states that, ‘Tusla and HSE should identify a named social worker on their respective child protection, mental health and primary care teams to be the identified lead social worker for a Direct Provision centre in their area.' I am happy to say that Tusla has agreed to implement this recommendation to support an improved co-ordinated approach to concerns about the welfare and safety of children living in Direct Provision.
107. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of the €47 million for the expansion of the early childhood care and education programme announced in Budget 2016 will be spent on higher Capitation rates; the amount on higher participation numbers; and the full-year costs of both initiatives. [36778/15]
View answerAt present, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme covers children who have reached the age of 3 years and 2 months by 1st September of the relevant year. From September 2016, I am expanding the ECCE programme to allow children to access free pre-school from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school. There will be three intakes of eligible children during the pre-school year: children who reach the age of 3 between April and August can access the programme from September; children who reach the age of 3 between September and December can access the programme from January; and children who reach the age of 3 between January and March can access the programme from April.
The number of weeks of free pre-school a child will benefit from will depend on their birth date and on the age at which they start primary school. This number ranges from 38 weeks (for children born between April and August who start school at age 4) to 88 weeks (for children born between January and March who start school at age 5). This equates to an estimated 23 additional weeks on average.
My Department estimates that the number of children benefiting from the ECCE programme will increase from 67,000 to over 127,000 in a given year.
The cost of this extended provision is estimated to be an additional €47 million in 2016. This includes the cost of restoring capitation rates to providers to pre-2012 levels from September 2016 and assumes 33 per cent of children are attending higher capitation services (as is currently the case).
As this initiative will begin in September 2016, the total additional costs of this extended provision - estimated to be €112 million - will not be realised in full until 2017. Again, this includes the cost of restoring capitation rates to providers to pre-2012 levels from September 2016 and assumes 33 per cent of children are attending higher capitation services (as is currently the case).
