Sir, - The death of Kim O'Donovan in Dublin can only be described as tragic. The death of any child or young person has a profound effect on all of us working and researching in the field of childcare. Before recriminations begin as to who was/is to blame for her death, could I state that the efforts which residential social care workers and managers put in every day are monumental and deserve to be recognised by the public. Her death does, however, raise again the issue of inter-disciplinary co-operation between services.
The Irish Resident Managers Association recently commissioned me to establish a profile of residential care units throughout the State and the preliminary results are, to say the least, shocking. There are significant numbers of care staff working with unqualified colleagues; there is disparity in pay between the health board regions; and, in the middle of all this, lies the child "at risk". Enormous resources have been put into childcare services, but we continue to miss early intervention projects and wholly under-resource residential care.
My research supports the argument for high-support units which have a therapeutic philosophy, but they must be staffed by adequately qualified professionals. Children deserve at least this if they are to overcome problematic backgrounds. - Yours, etc.,
C. Niall McElwee, Editor, Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, Centre for Social Care Research, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford.