A representative association has called on the Government to conduct an independent review of the children's care system.
It follows comments made by numerous district court judges in recent weeks over the crisis in the care sector.
The Children’s Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association (CRAVA) has said it strongly supports the comments made by district court judges.
One High Court judge also described the situation as "a tsunami about to reach shore and nothing is being done".
CRAVA has said Tusla and the Government have failed to uphold their statutory duty to children and young people in care.
The association, which represents voluntary organisations that have been providing services on behalf of the state for almost 200 years, has "repeatedly called for an independent review of the care system", to identify systemic failings.
Similar reviews have been undertaken by the governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales in the past six years.
In a statement, CRAVA said there should be a fully costed and funded programme to address these failings and a reformed system should be implemented.
"Only through this can we create a care system that can provide the range of care needs required by children and young people," it said.
The group echoed the Ombudsman for Children who it said had "correctly identified Government intransigence and neglect of this sector" as a root cause of the ongoing crisis.
In a meta-analysis produced by the Ombudsman for Children's Office in 2013, it recommended that the Health Service Executive and the Child and Family Agency urgently develop a strategic development plan for residential childcare services.
The children's ombudsman at the time, Emily Logan, said it would shape the future direction of services, plan for the provision of sufficient services in locations throughout the country and ensure that the needs of children and young people are met.
CRAVA's statement said that this should also apply to aftercare services.
The ombudsman also recommended that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs address how the Child and Family Agency, and organisations providing a service on its behalf, would discharge the role of corporate parent, ensuring that all relevant government departments, state agencies and relevant elements of the HSE accept their responsibilities for children.
CRAVA has said that each day urgent action is not taken to address the crisis and more children are being placed at risk.
It added that "funding cannot and should not be cited as an issue in this".
Two years ago, an evaluation report titled 'Spending Review 2020 Tusla Residential Care Costs’ showed the total cost of residential care increased by approximately €41m or 27% between 2016 and 2019.
Around 87% of this cost increase occurred within private service provision.
However, CRAVA has said it costs almost €2,000 less per week to place a child in voluntary care compared to private care.
It called on the Government for an independent review of the care system and to implement a costed and fully funded reform programme to "develop a care system which is fit for purpose".
