An inspection of Tusla foster care services for separated children seeking international protection found that some safeguarding issues were not being adequately managed by the Child and Family Agency.
The Health Information and Quality Authority found that a child was placed with a foster carer prior to garda vetting, while another child was placed with a carer under investigation over an ongoing allegation.
The inspection found that while applicants for fostering separated children seeking international protection had participated in a comprehensive assessment of their ability to foster; all the required documentation was not evident at the time of their approval.
HIQA is authorised to inspect foster care services provided by Tusla which offer an "urgent response" to the needs of unaccompanied children who arrive in Ireland.
The service for separated children seeking international protection comprises a child protection and welfare service and an alternative care service which includes fostering, children in care and aftercare.
The alternative care team were responsible for a small number of children in foster care - 25 by the end of the inspection.
However, approximately 300 other children were accommodated by the service in other arrangements including Tusla supported lodgings providers, Tusla residential centres, private residential centres and special emergency accommodation (SEA) arrangements.
Of the eight foster care standards that were assessed, three were found to be substantially compliant and five standards were not compliant.
HIQA found "serious concerns" about the capacity and sustainability of the fostering arrangements and the impact this was having on children.
Although the foster care service was staffed by "committed, hard-working and child-centred teams", they struggled to provide basic services to children in foster care.
HIQA found that the service was experiencing severe resourcing challenges.
Children in foster care were not all allocated to a social worker and were not being visited in line with the regulations.
While the report acknowledged that the governance of the Separated Children Seeking International Protection service continued to be a work in progress it said "the slow rate of progress was concerning".
It said resources and steering from Tusla national office was required to organise and implement an effective governance structure.
Care plan reviews were not conducted in line with the time frames in the regulations, and the review process required greater oversight by managers.
Following the inspection, management submitted a compliance plan to address issues identified during the inspection.
However, some actions in the plan were deemed unsatisfactory and did not adequately assure HIQA that the service complied with the standards.
'Staff under considerable pressure'
The second report was a follow up inspection of child protection and welfare services for children seeking international protection.
Inspectors found that the child protection service was better supported due to "a fundamental shift" in how it was being delivered since the previous HIQA inspection in February 2023.
However, although Tusla had completed some actions in line with the time frames in its compliance plan, it had extended the time frames for other actions to be implemented.
The follow-up inspection found repeated concerns over high caseloads, with staff under considerable pressure in terms of their capacity to meet the needs of an ever-increasing referral rate of vulnerable children.
The core issue of the unmanageable workloads of staff had not been addressed according to HIQA.
It found that staff and managers at all levels were not sufficiently supported in what it described as "a crisis-led service environment".
When the inspection took place, the service was at the initial stages of developing good governance arrangements; however, further reforms were needed to ensure that the right systems were in place to deliver a safe and effective service according to the report.
Tusla had taken steps to address some of the most urgent issues facing the service - including prioritising care order applications for children in voluntary care through the courts.
While the strategic direction of the service was clearer, with actions identified in the service improvement plan to develop a consistent and effective service, additional investment in resources, human resources, and IT systems from Tusla had not materialised quickly enough, leading to continued widespread service delays.
'Further work to do'
Tusla acknowledged the publication of the HIQA reports and noted that examples of good practice had been highlighted like the commitment of staff to deliver the highest possible care in "a high-pressure and crisis-driven environment".
It also pointed out that children told HIQA inspectors they felt safe in their placements, were enjoying school, extracurricular activities, and felt comfortable seeking support from foster carers, social workers, social care workers and workers in their (non-foster) placements.
It said principal social workers will now be completing a composite report every two months on unallocated cases highlighting risk, interventions and required actions for oversight.
It said the Foster Care service is developing its service and governance processes with the assistance of HIQA's findings, and efforts "continue to be made" to address staffing shortages through recruitment.
While it says it’s aware of the current challenges due to state obligations to those seeking international protection and refugee status under various EU and international directives and the resulting increase in children being referred / presenting to the team seeking assistance, the agency "remains committed to playing our part in the State’s response to those seeking international protection".
It welcomed oversight provided by HIQA in assisting it in ensuring that practices deliver good quality and appropriate services for children and families.
"We are aware that we have further work to do, and this process of improvement of the quality of our services set against high standards and regulation is an ongoing process," it said.
