Minister Zappone said:
“This Government continues to attach a very high priority to the work of Tusla – the Child and Family Agency. Tusla provides essential services to some of the most vulnerable children and families in our society. I am satisfied that Budget 2017 provides the necessary additional resources to continue with its ambitious programme of reform and provision of services.”
Funding provided in Budget 2017 provides Tusla with increased capacity to
respond to areas of identified risk and anticipated demand. It will also
allow Tusla to progress a number of key service developments during 2017.
The annual funding provided to the Agency has increased by over €100m (17%)
since its establishment on 1 January 2014. This reflects the ongoing strong
commitment on the part of Government in supporting our most vulnerable
children and families.
The additional €37 million current funding provided for 2017 takes account
of the full year cost of service pressures which Tusla had to respond to in
2016, including continuing cost increases in caring for children in foster
care and residential care services.
The 2017 provision includes €13.560m in capital funding to progress a
number of key critical infrastructural projects next year, including the
continued development and roll out of the National Child Care Information
System.
Budget 2017 will allow Tusla continue its journey in building an effective
and responsive child protection and welfare system and to particularly
target the following priorities:
· Unallocated Cases – This is the second year of a three year initiative
to tackle the issue of child protection cases awaiting allocation to a
social worker. The additional funding allows Tusla to continue its
programme of recruitment of social workers and associated staff needed
to address the issue of unallocated cases.
· Children First – Tusla will continue its preparatory work in advance of
the introduction of mandatory reporting under the Children First Act;
· Adoption - Ensure that Tusla is in a position to implement the
provisions of the Adoption (Amendment) Bill and the Adoption
(Information and Tracing) Bill, both of which are due to be enacted and
commenced in 2017;
· Aftercare - Ensure that Tusla is meeting its statutory obligations in
relation to children leaving care and requiring aftercare support
services;
· Homelessness - Support Tusla in implementing key elements of the
Government’s National Strategy on Homelessness;
· Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence - Develop enhanced domestic,
sexual and gender based violence services, including continued
implementation of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence
Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) and the Second
National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (2016 –
2021);
· Therapeutic services - Ensure that Tusla can provide direct therapeutic
services to assist with comprehensive assessment of children's needs and
work directly with children and families who may be suffering from
bereavement, loss, and trauma from abuse and neglect;
· Special Care - Facilitate the commissioning of new special care
facilities including the opening of the new purpose built special care
facility at Crannog Nua, Portrane;
· Educational Welfare Services – Ensure the recruitment of additional
Educational Welfare Officers and facilitate continued improvements to
the governance of the School Completion Programme.
· Governance - Effect necessary improvements in the Tusla organisational
structure, with a particular focus on governance, health and safety,
risk management, quality and performance improvement.
Minister Zappone, on foot of the Budget 2017 provision, will provide Tusla
with a detailed Performance Statement in accordance with the Child and
Family Agency Act, 2013, by the end of November. The Performance Statement
will set out specific policy guidance, priorities and resource parameters
to inform the preparation by Tusla of its Business Plan for 2017, which
will be submitted to the Minister for consideration.
Note to editors
More detailed information is provided below in respect of each initiative
above. Implementation of the above priorities is being supported by a
comprehensive recruitment strategy underway within Tusla, details of which
are set out in the following paragraphs.
1. Recruitment
Tusla is currently engaged in a three-year development plan which includes
provision for extra staffing to meet critical service concerns. This
includes the serious issue of addressing children with no allocated social
worker. During 2016, Tusla has been extremely pro-active in developing its
capacity to recruit and retain staff and currently has over 70 recruitment
campaigns open for various roles across a multi-disciplinary organisation.
An example of this is the recent Social Work recruitment campaign aimed at
graduates during summer 2016. Over 300 applications were received and 248
panelled. Tusla also ran a Social Care recruitment campaign in September
2016 and over 1,100 applications have been received and panels are expected
to be formed in December 2016. In addition to the recent Social Work
graduate panel, Tusla is now commencing a rolling campaign for recruitment
of social workers.
To-date, 69 Social Work graduates have been offered posts from the graduate
campaign and the increased funding for 2017 will allow Tusla continue to
recruit from this and other panels during 2017.
At the end of August 2016, Tusla had 3,570 whole time equivalent staff.
This represents an increase of 159 WTE since the establishment of Tusla in
January 2014. Of these, 1,473 are social workers representing an increase
of 105 since establishment. It is expected that this number will again
increase by the end of the year as recruitment continues and staff taking
unpaid leave during the summer return to work.
It is estimated that Tusla will need to increase its overall current
staffing levels by 650 by end 2017 across a variety of grades
–professional, paraprofessional and management and administrative grades.
Tusla has already commenced preparing its Recruitment Plan for 2017 with
Regional HR Managers identifying positions required to maintain existing
headcount and to meet service needs, including development posts:
· Approximately 150 social workers leave Tusla each year due to
attrition (retirement, career breaks, resignations etc.)
Tusla’s social worker turnover rate for the 12 months to August 2016 is
running at 8.4%. This compares favourably with England where average
turnover was 17% in 2014 (2015, UK Department for Education). Tusla’s
overall staff turnover rate for the 12 months to August 2016 is 5.5%.
2. Unallocated cases
· Number of Children waiting the allocation of a social worker
At the end of July, Tusla was providing child welfare and protection
services by an allocated social worker to 20,019 individual children and
there were a further 5,050 children waiting to be allocated a social
worker.
· Reducing the number of unallocated cases
Since the start of 2016 to end July, there has been a fall of 25% in
unallocated open cases and the proportion of open cases with an
allocated social worker has risen from 75% to 80%.
Since its establishment in 2014, Tusla has reduced the number of
children waiting to be allocated a social worker by almost 50% and the
number of high priority unallocated cases has been reduced by just under
80%.
· Open cases waiting the allocation of a social worker – “Unallocated
cases”
An open case is where it has been identified that a child could benefit
from a social work service. Children waiting to be allocated a social
worker include those being referred to Tusla for the first time as well
as those known to services or who are in care.
· Urgent Case reported to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency
All urgent cases are dealt with immediately and do not go on a waiting
list. If Tusla receives information of an urgent child protection issue
at any stage or a referral or its assessment, a child protection pathway
is followed.
· High priority cases waiting the allocation of a social worker
A high priority case includes children needing further child protection
assessment and intervention, children involved with child protection
court proceedings, children in care for less than 6 months and children
with high risk mental health and anti-social difficulties. Many
children who are deemed medium and low priority have welfare rather than
child protection needs and will engage with family support services.
· Monitoring of Cases waiting the allocation of a social worker
Tusla’s duty social work teams monitor the welfare of children who are
waiting to be allocated and may revise their priority category where
necessary. Monitoring includes home visits and sourcing information to
see if the child’s circumstances have changed.
The additional funding committed for expanding the complement of social
workers, social care staff and other support staff will consolidate the
reduction in unallocated open cases achieved in 2016 and see further
significant reductions in the 2nd year of a three year plan to tackle this
issue.
3. Children First
The Children First Act, which placed elements of Children First: National
Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children on a statutory footing,
was enacted in 2015 and a number of its provisions have already been
commenced. These include section 28 which relates to corporal punishment,
and which removed the common law defence of reasonable chastisement in
relation to same, and sections 20-26 which established the Children First
Interdepartmental Implementation Group (CFIDG) on a statutory basis.
Of the provisions which have yet to be commenced, the most significant are
those relating to mandated persons and providers of relevant services:
· Mandated persons will be required to report child abuse over a
defined threshold, to Tusla on a specified report form, and may
report immediately, if a child is at immediate risk of harm, other
than on the specified form;
· Providers of relevant services will be obliged to:
Ø Keep children safe from harm while availing of their services;
Ø Assess the risk to children availing of their services; and
Ø Prepare and publish a Child Safeguarding Statement to address that
risk.
Minister Zappone has recently approved a timeline for the phased and
structured implementation of the remaining provisions of the Children First
Act. The additional allocation will allow Tusla to undertake the necessary
preparatory work which is required prior to full implementation of the
legislation. This will include ensuring that the appropriate internal
systems are in place to deal with the intake of mandatory reports and that
a suite of resources is available to support and assist all sectors in
implementing the legislation.
Tusla will continue its preparatory work in advance of the introduction of
mandatory reporting under the Children First Act. This will include an
e-training module, a communications programme about the Act's provisions,
and recruitment of extra staff to support mandatory reporting. The Act will
be implemented on a phased basis as part of a co-ordinated approach on
related areas including reducing unallocated cases, implementing a new
Child Protection and Welfare Strategy and continuing the roll-out of the
National Child Care Information System.
The Minister will announce details in the near future of how a phased
implementation of the Children First Act will operate in the period 2016-
2017.
4. Adoption Services
(1) Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2015
The primary purpose of the Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016 is to give
legislative effect to the Thirty-first Amendment of the Constitution
(Children) Act 2012 which inserted Article 42A into the Constitution. The
Bill provides for the adoption of any child, irrespective of the marital
status of his or her parents, in circumstances where both parents have
placed the child for adoption and where both parents consent to the making
of the adoption order. It provides for a change in the criteria under which
the High Court may, in a case of parental failure, make an order
authorising the adoption of a child without parental consent and for the
best interests of the child to be the paramount consideration and for the
views of the child to be ascertained.
The Bill provides for the adoption of a child by his or her step parent
without the requirement for the child’s other parent to adopt his or her
own child (where that other parent is the spouse, civil partner or
cohabitant of the proposed adopter). It also provides for the repeal of
Part 11 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 and brings
forward the necessary provisions from Part 11 to provide for civil partners
and cohabiting couples to be eligible to jointly apply to adopt a child.
The Bill has passed second stage in the Dail and Committee stage
deliberations will commence in early November.
The increased funding will provide for the allocation of additional staff
to deal with applications to adopt children in long term foster care who
will now become eligible for adoption. This includes children of marriage
and children who may become eligible for adoption due to the reduction of
the threshold. Funding will also be required for legal costs associated
with these adoptions.
(2) Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill
The Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill is intended to facilitate
access to adoption information and provides a statutory basis for the
provision of information related to both past and future adoptions. It will
provide clarity around the information that can be provided and the
circumstances in which it can be provided.
One of the key provisions in this Bill is to give an adopted person, aged
18 years or over who was adopted prior to its commencement, a statutory
entitlement to the information required to apply for their birth
certificate subject to certain conditions. The Bill also provides that an
adopted person whose adoption was effected after the commencement of the
Bill will be given their birth certificate at 18 years of age.
Tusla will have statutory responsibility for the provision of adoption
(information and Tracing Services. On commencement of the Bill, Tusla will
be required to undertake an extensive awareness campaign to publicise the
provisions of the Bill.
Additional funding provided in 2017 will support the design and roll-out of
an awareness campaign to ensure that birth parents and adopted persons are
fully aware of the provisions of the Bill, to deal with the expected
increase in the applications for information and tracing of adopted persons
and to continue with work on the centralised storage of the historic
records relating to adoption in Ireland.
5. Aftercare services
The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 was signed into law in December of last
year. The legislation imposes a statutory duty on Tusla to prepare an
aftercare plan for an eligible child or eligible adult. Commencement of the
relevant provision is anticipated following the outcome of consultations
with Tusla with regard to appropriate timing and the readiness of Tusla to
implement same. In addition, Tusla is currently revising its aftercare
policies - it is anticipated that this will be completed shortly. Currently
some 1900 young people are in receipt of aftercare support provided by
Tusla.
The additional funding provided to Tusla will allow the continuing
recruitment of additional social workers to ensure that all children in
care have an allocated social worker to work with them in developing
aftercare plan. The funding will also allow Tusla employ a sufficient
number of aftercare workers to ensure young people, who have left care,
have the degree of support they need. Tusla currently provides residential
care to 102 young people over 18 years of age who need additional support
and the funding will allow for this level of intensive support to continue.
6. Government National Strategy on Homelessness.
Rebuilding Ireland, the action plan for housing and homelessness, was
published by Government in July of this year. In this document, a number of
actions are specifically identified so as to ensure that families and
children in emergency accommodation are supported as much as is possible.
To this end, the plan includes such measures as the appointment of
additional child support workers and the prioritisation of children in
emergency accommodation within the School Completion Programme. Tusla will
be working closely will relevant State agencies, not only in relation to
matters directly under its remit, but also as part of the wider response to
ensure that the challenges posed by homelessness are addressed as a matter
of urgency.
This additional funding will facilitate a range of measures including:
· the appointment of dedicated child support workers to work directly
with children and families in emergency accommodation, with a focus on
those with additional need
· additional resources to be put in place to strengthen and streamline
inter-agency cooperation for families in emergency accommodation.
Tusla will also continue to prioritise children in emergency accommodation
under the school completion programme as well as further highlighting the
services and supports available within, and developing the role of, the
Family Resource Centre network for families in homelessness.
7. Domestic Sexual and Gender-based Violence Services
Under the Child and Family Agency Act, 2013, Tusla is responsible for the
provision of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV) Services.
In that context, Tusla provides or facilitates the provision of a range of
services and supports to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based
violence.
The Department of Justice and Equality, through its office Cosc, (National
Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence) is
responsible for policy in this area. It has a strategic role in relation
to co-ordinating the whole of Government response to domestic, sexual and
gender-based violence. The Minister for Justice and Equality has published
a new National Strategy on Domestic Sexual and Gender based Violence which
runs from 2016-2021.
In 2015, Ireland signed (Minister for Justice and Equality) the Council of
Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and
Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) and work is on-going towards
ratification in the coming years. The development of DSGBV services is
guided by the Istanbul Convention and the Second National Strategy. In
practice, this requires Tusla to increase the geographical spread of
services for victims; to provide free 24-hour helpline services for victim
of domestic and sexual violence; to provide services to protect victims,
and to provide services for child witnesses of domestic violence along with
the right to recourse for victims who do not receive appropriate responses.
The additional funding available to Tusla will allow for continued
implementation of the provisions in both the Convention and the Second
National Strategy.
Additional funding in 2017 will be used to:
· enhance access to quality services for victims of domestic, sexual and
gender based violence;
· enhance knowledge capacity for service development and commissioning of
DSGBV Services;
· support implementation of a strategic approach to training and capacity
development; and support implementation of strategic supports for
networking and capacity building in the DSGBV Services sector.
The outcomes to be achieved include:
· implementation of two commissioned national help lines for domestic
violence and sexual violence respectively;
· improved responses to victims of DSGBV – greater access geographically;
targeted responses to:
1) men,
2) Traveller,
3) Roma, and
4) new communities,
experiencing domestic violence.
· responding to requirements under the Action Plan on Housing and
Homelessness with additional provision of short-term safe emergency
accommodation for women and children who become homeless because of
domestic violence;
· development of Quality Standards for DSGBV services;
· development of information systems for DSGBV data and knowledge;
· clear and effective commissioning processes for high quality DSGBV
services.
8. Therapeutic services for children
Many of the children involved with Tusla have, in their every day lives,
experienced bereavement, loss and trauma as well as abuse, neglect and
deprivation. Additional funding in 2017 will allow Tusla to provide direct
therapeutic services to children and their families as well as undertaking
comprehensive assessments of the children’s needs and to work through a
range of issues with the children and their families. Depending on the
child’s age and situation, the child may engage with a play, family or
child therapist who is there to assist them.
Psychiatric services, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Service (CAMHS), are accessed through the Health Service Executive.
9. Special Care
Where a child’s own behaviour is a significant risk to their life, health,
safety, development or welfare, it may be necessary for them to receive
therapeutic interventions in a safe, secure setting. An order from the
High Court is required to place a child in a special care unit. Special
care is a short term, therapeutic placement with the intention of returning
the child to a community or family based setting as soon as possible.
Children are admitted to Special Care following decision by the Child and
Family Agency's Special Care Admissions Committee and High Court agreement
for the making of a Special Care Order.
Tusla is investing over €14 million in capital funding to redevelop and
modernise the special care facility at Crannog Nua, Portrane. These works
are nearing completion and will increase the number of special care places
nationally by 12 places. Additional refurbishment works are nearing
completion at the special care unit in Ballydowd. The number of places
available nationally will increase to 30 as a result of the investment by
Tusla. This includes places at Coovagh House, Limerick and Gleann Alainn,
Cork. On foot of the additional provision in Budget 2017, Tusla will
commence the process of commissioning the additional places.
In parallel with this, it is also proposed to shortly commence the
regulatory framework governing special care as outlined in the Child Care
(Amendment) Act, 2011 and regulations made under the Health Act, 2007. This
will result in new HIQA standards being applicable to all special care
units as well as new statutory requirements. Tusla has been working
towards this improvement in special care service delivery with an
anticipated operational date of early 2017.
Additional funding for special care continues the investment in the
development of this service for children and young people with an intensive
support need and will allow for the recruitment of additional staff for
special care units. Special care units provide intensive support to
particularly vulnerable children and young people who exhibit behaviour
that puts them at significant risk.
10. Educational Welfare Service
Tusla is responsible for the Educational Welfare service which focuses on
supporting school attendance and school completion. Funding has been made
available in Budget 2017 to employ additional Educational Welfare Officers
for this important statutory role. Funding has also been provided for
further reform of the governance of the Schools Completion Programme which
was identified by the ESRI last year as in need of urgent attention.
11. Organisational Structure
As a growing organisation that is continuously evolving, Tusla is required
to have good governance and management structures in place to comply with a
range of statutory and other governance related obligations. Tusla has
undertaken a detailed review of its organisational capacity, following the
first three years of operation. Additional resources are being provided in
2017 to support Tusla in effecting improvements necessary to support the
ongoing programme of service reform and transformation which is underway.
In addition, Tusla is committed to developing and strengthening its
organisational and governance capacity in areas such as health and safety,
customer affairs, risk management, quality assurance and service monitoring
to support the delivery of front line services.
A range of positions will be prioritised for recruitment during 2017 across
all areas of risk, governance and organisational structure with a focus on
health and safety, customer focus, HR, finance and ICT structure as well as
other critical posts in quality and risk, data protection, communications
and policy.