Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2017
651. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is satisfied that the current out-of-hours social work system meets the needs of children and families nationwide that are in need of support and protection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8718/17]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency provides a range of out-of-hours services to all areas of the country, aimed at addressing emergency situations in the area of child welfare and protection. In the main, these emergency situations arise out of hours.
Out-of-Hours Services are provided outside of normal office hours including Saturdays, Sundays and Bank holidays. These services can be contacted directly by An Garda Síochána, hospital staff or other professionals who have a concern regarding the safety and welfare of a child outside of normal office hours. Where a young person is referred, or self refers, out of office hours and are out of home and seeking accommodation, an initial social work assessment is carried out to ensure the safety and welfare of the young person. Where a young person who is out of home, and requires accommodation for the night, there are a number of placement options available suited to the child's age and vulnerability. An emergency placement may be provided until the next working day when the case can be referred to the local Tusla Social Work Department. Out-of-Hours services are currently provided to all areas of the country under the following arrangements:
- The Crisis Intervention Service (CIS) provides an Out-of-Hours emergency social work service to young people aged 0 -18 years who are in crisis and reside in Counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.
- The Cork Out-of-Hours Service provides an emergency social work service to young people aged 0 -18 years in crisis who reside in the Cork North Lee and Cork South Lee areas.
- The Emergency Out-of-Hours Social Work Service covers areas outside of Counties Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Cork city. This service allows An Garda Síochána to contact a national emergency social work out-of-hours phone service for general advice or consultation. This on call service is staffed by social workers operating from the out-of-hours service in Dublin, supported by on-call social workers in different parts of the country. The social workers providing this service are employed by Tusla.
In 2017, Tusla plans to coordinate the three existing out-of-hours services into a national service.
The aim of Out-of-Hours Social Work Services is to ensure that the disruption and upset to which children may be exposed in emergency situations is minimised and the rights of parents and guardians are respected.
