Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
1178. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to an increase in the number of children being referred to Tusla in each year; if his Department has undertaken any study as to the reason that the number is increasing; his views on the increase; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29405/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department and the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, systematically review and analyse data that is captured by the National Child Care Information Service (NCCIS) on referrals and published by Tusla in monthly, quarterly and annual performance and activity reports (available at www.tusla.ie/data-figures). The NCCIS has greatly improved the integrity of the data collected. It has facilitated greater consistency to the interpretation of data and has provided scope for additional data to be gathered. However, there are some limitations to how the data can be interpreted, given the relative newness of this national system.
Looking across the years 2014 to 2021 there has been a notable increase in the number of referrals received by Tusla. Referrals rose by 30% from 2014 to 2019, however there was very little increase across the years 2017 to 2019. This is of interest as mandated reporting commenced in December 2017. The introduction of the NCCIS in 2017 and 2018 may explain some of the increase observed between 2016 and the years 2017 – 2019. During that time, and with the NCCIS being new, areas were counting referrals differently. Some areas were counting all referrals received, even if they were deemed not to require a social work response, while other areas were only counting referrals that required a social work response following screening.
There was a significant increase in referrals between 2019 (56,561) and 2020 (69,712). It is also likely that fewer referrals than expected were received in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated closure of schools and other services for certain periods of time. However, to understand this increase it is important to highlight the change in the methodology for counting of referrals that was introduced in 2020. This change means that since then all areas now count all referrals, including those which are screened out. This provides a better account of activity and demand on child protection and welfare services but has inflated the number of referrals.
Analysis of the source of referrals shows an increase across the majority of sources between 2020 and 2021 and although it is difficult to say for certain, there may be particular reasons as to why. For example, an increase in referrals from An Garda Síochána may be due to Gardaí being more attuned to the issues of domestic and gender-based violence leading them to increase the number of referrals made. Increases from safeguarding officers, psychologists, teachers and some others are likely due to the increasing awareness and understanding of abuse combined with the obligations under mandatory reporting.
Tusla has begun to collect data on re-referral and this data indicates a re-referral rate of approximately 20%, which is in line with international trends. This data indicates that for the vast majority of children and families referred to Tusla, once their interaction with the Agency is completed no further intervention is required or requested.
Given the nuances of referral data and significant changes which have occurred in recent times (i.e., introduction of NCCIS and the Covid-19 pandemic) it is difficult to comment with any certainty on the reason for increase in referrals at this time. However, with NCCIS now mainstreamed, clear guidance and data quality officers and other staff in place, Tusla and my Department are now in a better position to monitor and analyse trends and patterns in referrals at a national level.
