The following statement was issued by Minister for Children Barry Andrews in response to the Hiqa report on the inspection of children's homes:
I welcome the publication of the National Children in Care Inspection report 2008 prepared by HIQA. The Social Services Inspectorate of HIQA plays a crucial role in ensuring a quality assured system of care for children and young people who are in the care of the State.
It is essential that services are monitored and evaluated in a robust and rigorous manner. Reports such as the one launched today provide Government and the HSE with valuable information on the delivery of services.
Moreover, these reports provide a public account of the service provided to children. These reports constantly challenge policy makers and service providers. The value of inspection is wholly dependent on the degree to which recommendations are implemented. Where the State steps into the role of the “corporate parent”, there is an onus on the State to provide the same level of care that is delivered by parents in most family units.
This must be our starting point.
The report identifies instances where standards are not being met but also highlights examples of good practice. There is much good work being undertaken by social workers, care workers and other professionals in difficult circumstances and this often goes unnoticed and unacknowledged.
The underlying principles for the provision of these services must always be that children are safe, secure, protected and being assisted to reach their full potential with their families. We must strive to deliver services in a consistent fashion and unfortunately shortcomings referenced in the report relate to inconsistencies in approaches to critical services like aftercare and care planning.
While I accept that the delivery of children’s services requires reform, I firmly believe that in the Government’s Implementation Plan in response to the Ryan Report we have clearly articulated our reform programme and set out the various actions that are needed to fundamentally improve the delivery of services.
I am encouraged by the finding that overall inspectors found that children in residential care are well cared for by their care teams and that children “spoke warmly of staff members and other children they lived with”. Inspectors found that the relationships between staff members and other children were characterised by warmth, thoughtfulness and humour.
Children residing in the three special care units received a good standard of care and there was a good level of awareness of rights and participation in care planning. In a large proportion of residential centres, children informed inspectors that the rules of the centres were fair and behaviour was based on relationships characterised by “respect, care and individual attention”.
I note that the report highlights cases where children and/or their foster carers have no access to social workers. While the vast majority of children in care have an allocated social worker i.e.
residential care (91.9 per cent), foster care (85.8 per cent) and relative care (80 per cent), it is worrying to note in this report that only 40 per cent of relative foster carers reviewed in that particular service had an allocated social worker. The commitment to fill 270 HSE social work posts, contained in the Implementation Plan (in response to the Ryan report) will, I believe, enable all children in care and their foster carers to be provided with a designated social worker.
This is a minimum, but an achievable, standard that we must deliver.
Concerns are expressed in the report over inconsistencies in care planning and preparation for leaving care. Care planning is a crucial component in providing certainty and structure for children in care. Inconsistencies in care planning are a constant feature of inspection findings since 2002 and a greater commitment must be shown to improving this integral part of children’s services.
The Implementation Plan sets out actions in relation to the operation of a meaningful care planning process for children in care in line with regulations. The Plan also includes actions relating to the phasing out of hostel accommodation for separated children seeking asylum, the assessment of all foster carers, the vetting of staff and the provision of aftercare services. The provision of aftercare to children, who come of age and are in need of support, should not be seen as discretionary. If clarification in this respect was needed, the Implementation Plan makes clear that the HSE must provide aftercare support on the basis of need.
There has been criticism that some facilities in which children in the care of the State reside are not independently inspected. Recognising this gap, it is the Government’s intention that, by 2010, all children’s residential centres, including those for children with a disability will be independently inspected by the SSI/HIQA. The requirement that all care centres be registered will ensure that recommendations are followed up, otherwise, services will not be allowed to operate.
In relation to HIQA’s recommendation that children aged 12 and under should only be placed in residential care in exceptional circumstances, I am pleased to state that my Office has developed and issued a policy statement to the HSE in relation to this issue. This was forwarded to the HSE for implementation last month (October, 2009).
Finally, the very last recommendation in the report relates to the nomination by the HSE of an individual to be accountable for developing and implementing an action plan for the recommendations contained in the report. I have for some time called for the HSE to appoint such a person at senior managerial level to take responsibility for the delivery of services to children and families. This person has been recruited and will take up their position before the end of the month.’