Tusla staff challenges result in significant delays in screening referrals, HIQA finds

Eva Osborne

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has found that, while Tusla has undertaken initiatives in recruitment, challenges in recruiting and retaining staff remained in the services that had substantial waiting lists.

This resulted in significant delays in the screening of referrals, the conducting of preliminary enquiries into cases and the allocation of children to a social worker.

Tusla has worked to mitigate this risk through commissioning and partnering with external agencies and other service providers, and through allocating cases to social care professionals; however, many children continued to experience significant delays in receiving a social worker-led service, HIQA found.

In its review of the governance of child protection and foster care services, HIQA also found issues with governance and management and risk management in two inspection reports on child protection, welfare and foster care services operated by Tusla.

The reports found a lack of oversight in services operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) which meant that gaps in practice were not always identified, and risk was not identified or prioritised.

Staff were not receiving regular and effective supervision and support to promote the safe delivery of the service in some child protection and foster care services.

Furthermore, the National Out of Hours Service was not operating under Tusla’s existing governance and information systems, which resulted in the service being reactive rather than proactive in meeting the emergency needs of vulnerable children and young people.

However, HIQA said it also observed examples of good practice in both services.

Good support was provided to some children who did not have a social worker in service areas, and vulnerable children who were referred to the National Out of Hours Service were assessed and emergency action and intervention measures were taken when required.

HIQA’s head of programme for children’s services, Eva Boyle, said: “It is crucial that children have access to the right service for them at the right time to support their development and promote their safety and rights.

"Children have also told us over the years how important it is to have trusted adults that they can speak with. In these services, we found that many children did not have an allocated social worker, and were not receiving a timely and consistent service.

“Where risks were identified, HIQA escalated them to the regional chief officer of the service area or Tusla as appropriate, to ensure review and to provide assurances that the safety and care needs of the children were met.

"We have worked closely with Tusla to ensure improvements are made in the services provided to children and have monitored progress in this area over 2024. Since these inspections, substantial improvements have been made and Tusla has committed to continue to improve its services for children.”