Education Welfare Service

Wednesday, 14 February 2024

Questions (129, 130)

Patrick Costello

Question:

129. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education if an EWO been assigned to children currently in State care but excluded from school. [7075/24]

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130. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education where an EWO has been assigned specifically to residential care, if they work on a case by case basis or if there is a larger strategic plan being implemented for this role; and what are the goals in this special assignment. [7076/24]

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Written answers

Minister for Education

I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 130 together.

Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my Department. TESS operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands namely the Statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP). The three TESS strands work together collaboratively with schools, families and other relevant services to achieve the best educational outcomes for children and young people. All three strands share the same national outcomes:

• Improved Attendance

• Improved Participation

• Improved Retention

In September 2023, a specialist post of Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) for children in care was established in TESS. This post is funded by my Department and aims to support the ongoing education of children in care. The EWO for children in care works with Social Workers, Social Care Workers, local TESS staff, and schools, to ensure that young people who move in their care placement are supported to access school places quickly and to minimise gaps in their education.

Where appropriate, the EWO will support applications for Home Tuition under my Department’s Children In Care Home Tuition Grant Scheme which provides tuition as an interim measure for a maximum of 6 weeks for children in care, who are without a school place due to emergency placement or placement disruption.

TESS will develop the EWO for Children In Care role in line with the learning from the publication of the recent report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) 'Educational Attendance and Attainment of Children in Care, 2018 - 2023' and subsequent data sets published by the CSO.TESS also collaborates with my Department, Tusla colleagues, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and EPIC (Empowering People in Care) on various initiatives to improve the collection of data in respect of the attendance and attainment of children in care in education and on the development of practice responses to the particular challenges experienced by children and young people in care.

Question No. 130 answered with Question No. 129.

Question No. 131 answered with Question No. 126.