Child Protection Meeting our Responsibilities

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Child Protection-Meeting our Responsibilities

• Presentation for the IMO AGM
• Ineke Durville
• President - Irish Association of Social Workers

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Background

• Following 1970 Health Act and McKinsey report
  (1970/71) Establishment of 8 Health Boards
• Each Health Board (HB) had a number of
  programmes. The Eastern HB had 3 programmes
• Special Hospital Care - Psychiatric
  Hospitals
• General Hospital Care General Hospitals
• Community Care community-based services

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Community Care

• Established between 1972 1978
• Community based services where local knowledge,
  insight and contact with the population were
  essential (McKinsey)
• Multi-disciplinary teams headed by Director of
  community care and a team of medical officers,
  public health nurses, assistance officers
  (community welfare officers), social workers and
  dentists as resource to families and individuals
  in a non-fragmented way.
• Social workers were included in this programme as
  a generic support to a number of different
  vulnerable groups living in a local community

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Role of social work in CC teams

• Three consumer groups
• 1973 Dep. of Health issued guidelines for social
  workers.
• Children
• The aged
• Mentally Handicapped (DOH 1973)
• Social work role was generic and dealt with a
  variety of client groups
• Due to increase in awareness of need to develop
  social policy on children at risk during the late
  1970s, social workers took on more and more of
  the responsibility on behalf of the Health Boards
  but lacked a legal framework except for the 1908
  Children Act, which allowed children to be taken
  into care.

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1908 Children Act

• The 1908 Children Act enabled any person or
  citizen to bring a child or young person that is
  deemed to be at risk of being assaulted,
  ill-treated or neglected in any place within the
  jurisdiction of the justice to the attention of
  the court and offer to be responsible for its
  care
• (Often called fit persons order and the Health
  Boards became the fit person and children were
  placed into their care. The day to day
  responsibility for the children was delegated to
  the social work service)

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Responsibility for children and families

• The Health Boards took on the responsibility
  where children were considered at risk from
  deliberate physical ill treatment. (DoH,1980,
  1983)
• Guidelines in relation to non-accidental injury
  started to be developed.
• Memorandum 1977
• Guidelines 1980 and 1983

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Child Abuse Guidelines

• Guidelines 1987
• New definition of abuse acts that can harm
  children either by direct acts or by failing to
  exercise proper care or both
• Include physical injuries, severe neglect and
  sexual or emotional abuse (Child abuse
  guidelines, 1987)

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Child Care Act 1991

• The Child Care Act 1991 section 3 sets out the
  specific responsibilities of the Health Boards
  (now HSE) for the welfare of children
• Section 3.1 and 2, places the responsibility for
  the promotion of the welfare of children up to 18
  years of age who are not receiving adequate care
  and protection on the Health Boards (now HSE),
  having regard to the principle that it is
  generally in the best interest of a child to be
  brought up in his/her own family.
• Section 3.3, obliges the HSE to provide child
  care and family support services.
• This places a duty on the HSE to act both in a
  preventative as well as a protective manner.
• After care services for children in care
  following their 18th Birthday. The obligation
  changes from shall to may and allows for opt
  out.
• The act was fully implemented in 1996

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Social work responsibility

• The statutory responsibilities of the Health
  boards (now HSE) in the Child Care Act 1991 were
  delegated to social workers in community care
  areas.
• This responsibility under the act refers to
  prevention, early intervention as well as
  protection
• Following enactment of 1991 Child Care Act some
  funding was made available for a number of years
  to social work departments for additional social
  work posts and to set up a limited number of
  family support services

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Prevention

• Services provided by social work departments
• Social work expertise as part of social work
  teams and in addition to social workers, i.e.
• Community Workers, Child Care Workers,
  access workers
• Services provided in the local community
• Family Support Services, i.e.
• Day nurseries
• Family support outreach services
• Day Fostering services
• Family resource centres
• Springboard services
• neighbourhood youth services
• Youth teams etc.

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Early intervention

• Early referral in order to intervene at an early
  stage and prevent family break down
• Allows for time to provide support to family and
  build relationships with the family by social
  worker
• Allows for early referral to support services in
  the local community
• Allows for early referral to other statutory
  services
• International research has shown that early
  intervention provides much better outcomes

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Protection

• Each social work team is required to have a
  social worker on duty for a few hours every day
• Reports of children at risk of abuse are taken by
  the duty social worker in a community care area.
• The reporting guidelines for external agencies,
  professionals and others are laid down in the
  Children First Guidelines

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Children First Guidelines

• Launched in 1999
• Guidelines are intended to assist people in
  identifying and reporting child abuse
• Clarify and promote mutual understanding among
  statutory and voluntary organisations about the
  different disciplines and professions to child
  protection.

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Social work roles in community care teams

• Duty social work team
• Intake teams/short term intervention
• Long term teams
• Fostering social work team
• Youth team (exists in very few areas)

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Duty social work

• The role of the duty social worker is to receive
  all referrals
• Assess referral on the need for intervention
• Discuss with Team leader/sw supervisor
• In case of abuse arrange to have case conference.
• Follow through on decision from case conference
• If case is in need for short term of long term
  follow up transfer to appropriate team

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Intake or short term team

• Will work with referral on a short term basis
  where the assessment indicates that a short term
  intervention may be sufficient

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Long term teams

• These sw teams will deal with any long term
  follow up needed
• On-going support for children and families in the
  community
• Often the children have had to come into the care
  of the HSE and are provided with on-going support

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Fostering social work team

• Social workers working in this area of work carry
  out assessments of foster parents
• Provide training for foster parents
• On going support for foster parents during a
  childs placement
• Attend Child Care reviews

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Youth teams

• Exist as part of some social work teams
• Deal with teenagers to try and prevent family
  breakdown
• Support teenagers that are out of home or
  homeless

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Court

• When a child needs to come into the care of the
  HSE and the parents do not agree with the plan, a
  social worker needs to apply to the court
• Application to the district court for court order
• Liaise with law firm
• Liaise with parents/guardians and continue their
  access with their children
• Liaise with guardian ad litem
• Liaise with other professionals
• Organise meetings were necessary
• Write report on child to support reasons for
  request
• Attend court, which can be on a regular basis
  until an order is made
• Give evidence in court
• Attend court for children in care that face
  criminal proceedings

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Child Care Regulations

• HSE statutory obligations under 1991 Child Care
  Act for children in care are set out by the child
  care regulations 1995
• This places the responsibility to ensure the
  provision of placements for children in care and
  ensure that they are up to the required standard
• Each Child in Care of HSE should have an
  allocated social Worker until 18 years of age.
• After care for young people over 18 years of age.
  Requirement changed from shall to may.

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Social Work responsibility Child Care regulations

• Young person placed in Foster care or Residential
  care
• SW has overall responsibility for child on behalf
  of the HSE while child in care
• Supports and builds relationship with child
  through regular visits.
• Liaise with family of child
• Liaise with foster family or residential centre
• Coordinate family access
• Organise yearly reviews as per regulations

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Difficulties Staffing numbers

• Staffing numbers cut following 2 embargos
  December 2002, Autumn 2007
• Lack of staff to be able to provide the required
  services under the 1991 Child Care Act
• Emphasis on the protection role for children at
  the expense of prevention/early intervention,
  which results in crisis-driven service
• Unallocated cases are held on duty teams waiting
  to be allocated to long term teams or held on
  waiting lists by sw managers
• Some social work teams allocate all cases too
  many to deal with for each individual social
  worker and therefore lack of adequate service
• Some children in care do not have a social worker
  to ensure that plans are made for their future
• Some Foster families do not have a link worker.
  Support for foster parents during a childs
  placement can prevent placement breakdown.

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DifficultiesLack of resources

• Funding for services has remained at December
  2002 levels or cut
• Lack of ability to provide early intervention
• Lack of preventative services in the community
• Lack of wide range of family support services
• Lack of other professional or therapeutic
  services
• Lack of appropriate care placements for children
• Lack of appropriate care placements for teenagers
  which can lead to teenagers being homeless
• Lack of after care services
• Children in care do not get priority in accessing
  services

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Lack of back up service

• Shortage of administrative supports
• Inappropriate accommodation facilities
• Lack of access facilities for parents and
  children
• Shortage of interview rooms

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General issues

• Centralised planning for service provision does
  not allow sw managers to plan for local needs
• The emphasis on development of primary care teams
  has taken over focus at the expense of social
  services
• Due to stressful working environment experienced
  social workers leave to go to different areas of
  practice
• Very young often recently qualified social
  workers
• Large staff turn over in child welfare teams

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Conclusion

• HSE has the statutory responsibility for
  promoting Child Welfare
• HSE is responsible for children in care
• HSE in role of loco parentis.
• At present approx 5000 children in the care of
  the HSE for which they have parental
  responsibility
• This responsibility delegated to the social work
  profession

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Conclusion (continued)

• Social work departments do not have sufficient
  staff, resources and back up to carry out this
  responsibility
• Crisis driven service
• Lack of early intervention
• Children in care often do not get their needs met
  and are not prioritised.
• Children in care do not have a voice, are
  vulnerable, often have had very difficult
  histories and are dependent on the HSE to
  advocate on their behalf as any parent would.