Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 March 2017
374. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children, per region, who have gone missing or have disappeared while placed in the care of the State, for each of the years 2011 to 2017 to date, in tabular form; the number of these whose whereabouts are still unknown; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12750/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra375. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children who have gone missing or have disappeared while placed in the care of the State but whose whereabouts were subsequently rediscovered for each of the years 2011 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form; the numbers who were retraced to brothels; the numbers retraced to businesses; the numbers retraced to private households and to any other location in which it is believed they may have been used as slaves; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12751/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 374 and 375 together.
Tusla has confirmed to me that all of the children who went missing during 2016 were returned safely to their foster or residential placement. I understand that information on children's absences from care is being collected in all administrative areas, and is being used in service and care planning for children in care. However, it may not be collated in the manner referred to by the Deputy. I have asked Tusla, the Child and Family Agency for the information and I will respond to you when their reply has been received.
A child in care would be expected to have an Absence Management Plan. This is used to assess the risk in the event of a child going missing and the action to be taken. A child in care is considered to be missing when his or her whereabouts are unknown and the Absence Management Plan indicates concern for the child’s safety. For example, a child in care can be subject to curfews as part of their placement plan that reflect their ability to keep themselves safe. It should be remembered that most children in care live in family settings in the community.
I can inform the Deputy that I have been assured that there is strong inter-agency co-operation to promote the safety and welfare of children who are reported missing from care. In this regard, a Joint Protocol between An Garda Síochána and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, sets out the procedure to be followed in the event that a child in care goes missing. Children in care are recognised by An Garda Síochána and Tusla as being among the most vulnerable in our society.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A:
Further to Parliamentary Questions (12750/17 and 12751/17) of 9 March 2017, I have received the following information from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency in relation to the number of incidents of where a child went missing from care.
A child in care would be expected to have an Absence Management Plan. This is used to assess the risk in the event of a child going missing and the action to be taken. A child in care is considered to be missing when his or her whereabouts are unknown and the Absence Management Plan indicates concern for the child’s safety. For example, a child in care can be subject to curfews as part of their placement plan that reflects their ability to keep themselves safe. It should be remembered that most children In care live in family settings in the community.
It should be noted that time missing cannot be used to determine whether a child qualifies as missing, rather it is a combination of the time period with all other circumstances of the case that must be considered. For example, If a child is not allowed unsupervised time outside the home and cannot be found in the home, this will be counted as an incident of a child missing from care regardless of the period of time involved.
Tusla operates a procedure which records each missing from care incident and liaises with An Garda Síochána as necessary. With the development of the National Child Care Information System, Tusla will be in a position to provide more detailed information as the project develops.
Tusla has confirmed to me that all of the children who went missing during 2016 were returned safely to their foster or residential placement. Tusla has advised there were two young people who went missing from care in 2017 who have not been located. One young person is believed to be with his mother and the other young person is believed to be in the U.K.
It should be noted that children in care are significantly more likely to go missing than other children, with those in residential care an estimated three times more likely to go missing (Rees and Lee, 2005). National figures for years prior to 2016 are not available. In the vast majority of cases, where a child is missing from care, these incidents last for under 12 hours.
|
Private Residential Centres |
Tusla and Voluntary Centres |
Secure Care |
|
|
2016 |
2,545 |
2,931 |
78 |
|
2017 (to date) |
413 |
513 |
8 |
I trust that this information is helpful.
