Taoiseach Enda Kenny today launched the National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children of the HSE Children and Family Services.
Describing the Standards as part of an ongoing reform agenda, Children & Youth Affairs Minister Frances Fitzgerald stated that they are focused on creating better outcomes for children and will deliver greater consistency in child protection and welfare services nationally.
Welcoming their publication, the Minister stated:
For decades the child protection system has chased symptoms. We have seen children with problems, or in care, or jail, or in the worst cases children have, tragically, died. And we have said ‘what caused this?’ and have tried to trace the source of the problem. Now we are moving to a system where we will interrogate the system in the absence of evident failure.
We are effectively building a new architecture for child protection. These new National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children set out, for the first time ever, the key features of an effective child protection service.
From now on, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) will constantly and consistently monitor and interrogate the services being provided to our nation’s children. The critical aspect of these Standards is that they will be tested, checked, assessed and audited. That is a radical step forward.
We are creating a new Child and Family Support Agencywhich will be established in 2013, and are enshrining Children First in law and this autumn we are going to offer the people the chance to change our Constitution to give further supports to children and families.
Launching the Standards, the Taoiseach said:
We will have a referendum to strengthen children’s rights under the constitution.
The well being of children is a priority for this Government and will remain so.
It is critical that services for vulnerable children are of a high standard and are focussed on the safety and welfare of the child. We need to make sure that the evidence of good practice in child protection is applied uniformly. These standards are a key part of that.
The Taoiseach continued:
The new Child and Family Support Agency will have direct responsibility for a wide range of critical core services. It will also be charged with the development and management of integrated work with child and family services outside the Agency. It is clear that a fully streamlined, nationally-led series of processes and procedures for referral, assessment, case management and service provision will be critical to achieve the changes required.
Concluding his remarks, the Taoiseach said:
We need to support families and protect children. We need to be sure that when we move to help children and families, that their life chances are improved by that decision. Child protection remains a high priority on our agenda and my Government will not fail in that duty.
Watch an excerpt from a doorstep after the event below:
The full doorstep can be seen here.Read the full press release here.
Read the Taoiseach's full speech here.
Read the National Standards here.