A Health Information and Quality Authority inspection report into Tusla's foster care services in Cork shows there were not enough foster carers to respond to children who needed to be admitted to care in an emergency.
Inspectors found that the service area's capacity to match children to foster carers best placed to meet their individual needs was severely compromised, with indications of high and increasing pressures on the service in recent years.
The report which is based on HIQA's inspection of Tusla's foster care service in Cork between 28 September and 1 October last year, shows significant shortfalls in visits by social workers to children, timely foster placements and backlogs in child in care reviews.
Two-hundred-and-eighty-five children gave their feedback to HIQA via questionnaires, and inspectors spoke to an additional 16 children about their experience of foster care.
Children spoke very highly of their foster carers however, some children said they rarely saw their social worker.
HIQA found that while the quality of assessments of children's needs carried out by social workers was adequate, not all assessments had been completed in line with the required timescales following an emergency placement.
It found that improvements were also required in relation to the governance of the service and management oversight and scrutiny of practice.
HIQA's says significant shortfalls in visits to children, backlogs in child-in-care reviews and the lack of capacity within the area to provide placements to children in a timely manner were all areas of significant risk identified during the inspection.
There were also delays and gaps in the information about children being uploaded onto the electronic case management system and supervision of social workers did not meet the standards of practice set out in Tusla guidance.
While all children placed in foster care at the time of the inspection had an allocated social worker, social workers did not regularly visit some children; with some significant gaps and delays in children being seen or spoken to.
Some social workers experienced ongoing challenges in workload management.
Prior to the inspection in Cork, the service area had identified these significant shortfalls in its statutory visiting arrangements; but evidence of improvement was limited according to HIQA.
The report notes long delays in child-in-care reviews, with a significant backlog in one social work department.
When reviews did take place they provided an important check of the needs and direction of care for the child, their foster carers, wider family members and partner agencies.
Following the inspection, a compliance plan was received by HIQA from Tusla.
It outlined how it would address the risks in the Cork foster care service.
The plan includes provision of additional resources, development of an area-wide child-in-care review team, the implementation of enhanced quality assurance mechanisms, and the strengthening of national and regional structures for the governance of risk and incident management.
The compliance plan is being monitored as part of HIQA's ongoing regulatory activity.
On a positive note, many of the children reported they were happy and thriving in their foster placements and they said they had people they could talk to if they did not feel safe.
Feedback from the young people about their experience of the aftercare service was also very positive.
Most children spoke highly of their social workers and felt they were listened to.
In a statement, Tusla acknowledged the findings of the HIQA report.
Its National Director of Services and Integration has sought to reassure the public that where a child is at immediate risk they receive an immediate protective response, which was reflected in the report.
Kate Duggan said that at the time of the HIQA inspection, every child in foster care in Cork had an allocated social worker.
Ms Duggan said social workers actively support children in their placements, facilitating family access visits and where necessary, advocating for additional support services.
"While our main priority was providing appropriate support to these children and prioritising child-centered practice, there was a backlog of reviews.
"We have made progress in this regard and will continue to address this. A delay with a review does not indicate a lack of social work response."
The Child and Family Agency also noted HIQA's concerns about the number of foster care placements available.
It has said that care recruitment "continues to be a challenge for Tusla nationally", and it has recently rolled out its second national public awareness and recruitment campaign to encourage people to consider fostering a child.
Anyone interested in "opening their home to a child", particularly in Cork and other large urban areas, have been asked to get in touch with Tusla.
