Children in the country’s special care units have the right to be safe, receive child-centred, high quality care and support. They also should have access to the services they need in order to maximise their safety, wellbeing and development, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) said today.

Marie Kehoe-O’Sullivan, HIQA’s Director of Safety and Quality Improvement commented: “For children, being placed in a special care unit is a measure of last resort and depriving children of their liberty is considered to be an extreme measure. A child’s liberty is only revoked by a court of law for the purpose of providing care and protection. These children still have the right to privacy, dignity, respect, and to have their civil and legal rights promoted and safeguarded.”

Special care units have an important role to play in promoting and safeguarding the rights of children in their care. Commenting on the publication today of draft new national standards, for public consultation, for the operation of the country’s special care units, Marie Kehoe-O’Sullivan said the standards, which will be supported by regulations, provide a framework for providers of special care services for the ongoing development of child-centred, high quality, safe and effective residential services for children.

HIQA has developed the Draft national standards for special care units in preparation for changes to the legislation which governs the Authority. When the relevant changes to law are made, all special care units – run by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), or run by a private organisation or a voluntary body – will have to be registered with HIQA.

 “HIQA aims to promote progressive improvements in quality and safety of care in these units. To help us to do that well, we are anxious to hear from children and families of children who live or previously have lived in these centres, and also from staff or former staff who have experience working there. Their views, and the opinions of the public in general, will help ensure the focus remains on ensuring the best quality services possible,” Marie concluded.

You can get the full version or an easy to read version of the Draft Standards from our website. We will consider and review all feedback received and will later publish a final version of the National Standards. The closing date for receipt of submissions is Monday 10 November 2014.

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Further Information: 

For further information please contact:
Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
01 8147480 / 086 2447623 mwhelan@hiqa.ie

Notes to the Editor: 

• Special care units are secure, residential facilities for children in care aged between 11 and 17 years. They are detained under a High Court care order for a short-term period of stabilization when their behaviour poses a real and substantial risk of harm to their life, health, safety, development or welfare. They are also kept in a special care unit where placement in such a unit is considered necessary for their care and protection.
• Special care provides for a short-term, stabilising intervention that prioritises safe care in a secure, therapeutic environment. It aims to enable the child to return to a less secure placement as soon as possible, based on the needs of that child.
• Children in special care units are not there because they have committed a criminal offence. The special care unit detains children for their own care and protection through the provision of a controlled and safe environment.
• Regulation of special care units involves using National Standards and different types of legal obligations to decide whether services are providing safe and effective care for the children who live there. This is done through keeping a register (or list) of centres and monitoring and inspecting them on a regular basis to check that they are meeting the Standards and their legal obligations.

People can complete the online feedback form by clicking a link on our website, www.hiqa.ie. They can download the feedback form and email completed forms to standards@hiqa.ie. Alternatively, they can print off a copy of the feedback form from our website and post it to us at:

Health Information and Quality Authority

Draft National Standards for Special Care Units
George’s Court
George’s Lane
Smithfield
Dublin 7.

For further information or if you have any questions you can talk to the standards team by calling 01 814 7627.