Dáil Éireann Debate, Friday - 16 September 2016
1931. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the role of child art psychotherapy in child welfare and protection services; the psychotherapeutic services available to children who are involved with Tusla; the nature of these services; their availability by region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25479/16]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency is currently seeking to develop an integrated approach to the provision of therapy services which supports and informs front line practitioners in their day to day work with children and families as well as providing multidisciplinary therapeutic services which address the broader psychological welfare needs of children and their families.
An existing child art psychotherapy service is located in the Dublin North City area comprising of one sole therapist. The service accepts referrals from social workers for children about whom there are child welfare and child protection concerns. The caseload includes children who are in care, living in the family home or are the subject of court proceedings. This service is currently being developed and five graduate art psychotherapists have been contracted to provide art psychotherapy to children known to the Agency. Three of the graduates will be located in the existing Dublin North City service and the remaining two graduates will be located in the Dublin North locality. It is planned that each graduate child art psychotherapist will provide six sessions of child art psychotherapy per week.
Tusla is required under the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013 to support and promote the development, welfare and protection of children; to support and encourage the effective functioning of families and to provide services relating to the psychological welfare of children and their families.
Tusla provides psychological services for children in care and at risk through an arrangement with the Health Service Executive. In certain circumstances, psychological services for children are privately procured on an individual cases basis as required.
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 services for the psychological welfare of 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 the Health Service Executive and Tusla.
