The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published an inspection report on the child protection and welfare service operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Cork service area.

HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under Section 8(1)(c) of the Health Act 2007 to monitor the quality of services provided by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), to protect children and promote their welfare. HIQA monitors Tusla’s performance against the National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children and advises the Minister for Children and Tusla.

HIQA conducted a focused inspection of the Cork service area over four days in April 2023. This inspection assessed compliance with the national standards relating to the management of children who are at ongoing significant risk of harm and who are placed on Tusla’s Child Protection Notification System (CPNS). Of the six standards assessed, three were found to be compliant and three were substantially compliant.

 
Overall, HIQA found that the service area provided a good-quality service to children listed on the CPNS. There were strong leadership and governance arrangements in place that ensured that children received a safe and effective service. The service had, and was continuing to experience, staff vacancies in the area. However, the area managed this risk by ensuring all children placed on the CPNS were assigned to a social worker. The culture of the organisation promoted strong child-centred practice, with effective engagement of families and partner agencies. Managers were striving to strengthen joint working with housing and health partners, and recognised that further work was needed. There was a clear commitment to organisational learning, partnership development and collaboration with other organisations.

Further improvement was required in the identification of cumulative harm, in the evaluation of any new information received, and in recognising the impact prolonged exposure to this harm had on children.

 
Improvements were required in relation to the timeliness of initial child protection conferences and review child protection conferences being convened and in the monitoring of child protection plans in the absence of safety network meetings. Although the ‘Joint Protocol for interagency collaboration between the Health Service Executive and Tusla to promote the best interests of children and families’ was in operation, using the escalation procedures in a timely manner needed to be further strengthened to ensure that access to services for children living with moderate to severe disabilities was secured.

The chairpersons ensured the involvement of children, parents, network members and professionals at case conferences. There was good practice in the promotion of children’s right to participate in conferences and to have their voices heard. Immediate child protection plans were put in place for children awaiting their initial child protection conference and a clear picture was provided of the risks and actions required to keep them safe.

When children were no longer assessed as being at a significant risk of harm, they were appropriately de-activated from the CPNS in a timely way. These decisions were appropriate and provided a clear transition from child protection safety planning to an ongoing safety planning approach.

The inspection report and compliance plan can be found at the link below.