The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published an inspection report on the foster care service operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan service area.

HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under Section 69 of the Child Care Act, 1991, as amended by Section 26 of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011, to inspect foster care services provided by Tusla and to report on its findings to the Minister, and to inspect services taking care of a child on behalf of Tusla, including non-statutory providers of foster care. HIQA monitors foster care services against the 2003 National Standards for Foster Care.

This inspection report, which is part of a thematic inspection programme, is primarily focused on assessing the effectiveness of governance arrangements across foster care services and the impact these arrangements have for children in receipt of foster care. The thematic programme is the third and final phase of a three-phased schedule of inspection programmes monitoring foster care services.

HIQA conducted a thematic inspection of the foster care service in Sligo/Leitrim/ West Cavan in May 2021. Of the eight standards assessed, two were compliant, four were substantially compliant, and two were moderate non-compliant. 

Overall, most children and young people felt they were listened to, had good care and had positive relationships with their foster carers and social workers. The voice of children, including their wishes and feelings, was carefully considered within statutory visits, care plan meetings, child-in-care and foster care reviews, and helped inform matching decisions for long-term care. When asked what they would like to change, some children said they would like to see their siblings or parents more often, and to have less changes of social worker. 

External agencies spoke about high-quality, child-centred support undertaken by the children’s social workers.

Leadership and management in the area was effective in addressing children’s needs and supported the delivery of a high-quality service. However, attaining a consistently high standard of service delivery required ongoing workforce capacity issues to be addressed. The allocation of social workers to all children and foster carers was critical in driving further improvements in service quality. In addition, the recruitment and timely assessment and approval of foster carers equipped to meet the diverse and complex needs of children, was central to the future effectiveness and sustainably of its foster care service. These issues had been recognised by the alternative care management team, and were clearly reflected in the area’s risk register and its service improvement plans. 

Management trackers were well used, and provided good business intelligence about the quality of services. Systems developed since the previous HIQA inspection ensured strong management oversight of allegations, serious concerns and complaints to prevent drift or delay. The service area, however, had not yet embedded its approach to undertaking audits of case records to provide effective review and analysis of the quality of casework in line with its protocol. While inspectors’ review of children’s records indicated high priority was given to statutory work, there remained ongoing variability in the standards of recording and file management practices. 

The foster care committee (FCC) was well led and included individuals and agencies with a broad and relevant range of experience, knowledge and expertise. The FCC properly discharged its role and accountabilities for making recommendations about the suitability of foster care applicants, including re-approval following review. Recommendations made by the FCC concerning the learning and development needs of foster carers, however, would benefit from clearer definition to further enhance their knowledge and competencies. 

Foster carers overall were positive about the help and support they received, although few had been their link worker face-to-face over the previous 18 months. They valued the ‘check-ins’ and support given, including additional help provided for the children placed with them. 

Service managers gave high priority to the management of complaints, and also sought to identify learning from the compliments its staff received. Complaints management was effectively led and reviewed to ensure ongoing analysis of trends and review of organisational risk. Children, foster carers and parents that inspectors spoke to, had a good awareness of their right to complain and what to do to ensure their voice was heard. 

Improvements were required to address the ongoing gaps in the capacity of its workforce, and the capacity of its foster care panel. Improvements were also required in relation to the timeliness of assessments of foster carers, and auditing to ensure consistency of supervision and case recording practices. The service area had recognised gaps in its provision for children with high or complex needs and was working to address these.