SOCIAL WORKERS have expressed concern at the lack of clear guidelines over the detention of significant numbers of young people in adult psychiatric hospitals.
An estimated 200 young people each year are placed in adult mental hospitals because of a severe shortage of child or adolescent mental health inpatient services.
However, at the annual general meeting of the Irish Association of Social Workers, members expressed deep concern at whether the rights of young people were being sufficiently respected. While the State’s mental health watchdog has published guidelines on the issues, many members expressed concern that young people who are involuntarily detained have little say in being admitted to unsuitable facilities.
“Many of us are very unclear as to where we stand and where the rights of young people stand in these kinds of circumstances,” said Declan Coogan of the association. “There may well be cases where it is the only option, but we want to ensure that their rights are respected. The guidelines that are there are very general, so it’s important that clearer guidelines are made available.”
The Mental Health Commission (MHC) has warned that the practice of detaining children in adult facilities can have an adverse effect on children and should take place only when there is no alternative.
Some of the children being admitted to adult institutions are as young as 14, latest figures show.
Social workers also passed a motion strongly opposing “conversion therapy”, which seeks to change the sexual orientation of gay, lesbian and bisexual people. Members said they were aware of the service being offered on an informal basis in some parts of the State.
A motion passed at the conference stated that sexual orientation conversion therapy was based on the incorrect belief that homosexuality is an illness.
It said there was no evidence the therapy was effective, though there was evidence of mental health risks associated with the use of such approaches with gay, lesbian or bisexual people. In the motion, the association strongly opposed any such approaches and discouraged social workers from making referrals to agencies that claim to do so.
Social workers also expressed support for the work of the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution – which is examining how to strengthen the rights of children – but expressed concerns about the delay in the publication of a children’s rights bills. This committee was recently granted a six-month extension to its work and will decide whether a referendum is needed to address the issue.
In the meantime, the committee is expected to recommend in an interim report new laws to protect children from adult sex predators, such as the sharing of “soft information” on suspects.
Concerns were also expressed at the association’s agm about social work recruitment practices at the HSE which – it was claimed – fail to take into account local needs and the individual experiences of the social workers who were being interviewed for general social work posts.
