Concern has been raised over unaccompanied children seeking international protection in Ireland who have gone missing while in State care.
An inspection of Tusla's Separated Children Seeking International Protection service has discovered that, in January and February of this year, approximately 30 children were missing and unaccounted for.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) was told by staff of the service that they did not routinely contact other jurisdictions after children go missing from their care.
In a monitoring inspection of the Tusla service, HIQA inspectors sampled ten cases where children were reported as missing.
In one case, a 12-year-old child was missing for 18 months, but this did not result in strategy meetings with gardaí or contact with UK or Northern Ireland counterparts to locate them.
Despite a joint national protocol between An Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive and Tusla, the report states that there’s "limited liaison" with gardaí.
Despite a request for strategy meetings in four of the ten cases reviewed, two of the requests were made five months after the child was reported missing.
"The service did not work closely with all relevant professionals to identify and respond quickly to protect vulnerable children," according to the report.
There were some channels of communication from police in Northern Ireland around the location of missing children.
However, inspectors identified a need for improvement when it came to liaising with counterparts across Europe, particularly where there were concerns about child trafficking and exploitation.
Tusla staff said that they did not routinely contact other jurisdictions as part of the intake and assessment process or after a child goes missing from their care.
HIQA found that organised abuse of children by adults and the possibility of abuse of other children was not considered or in line with national standards.
Tusla's area manager discussed the increasing high rate of missing children in care exceeding the growing rate of referrals to the service.
The manager also raised concern about the numbers of children who were missing in transit and potentially exposed to exploitation such as forced labour.
There was also mixed practice when trafficking concerns were identified for children.
The trafficking risk assessment was not used across the service and, of 50 case files reviewed, there were nine cases that had the trafficking assessment on children's files.
In two of the nine cases reviewed, inspectors found that there were indications of trafficking on file.
When trafficking concerns were identified, there was no contact with counterparts in the UK to "ground these concerns" and inform safety planning for the child.
HIQA said that improvement was required to respond appropriately to this vulnerable cohort of children arriving as unaccompanied minors into the country.
The inspection of Tusla's Separated Children Seeking International Protection service followed a previous inspection of the service in 2023 when it failed in nine out of ten standards of compliance.
In the latest inspection, it failed in seven out of eight standards.
Despite some progress, the service had not taken timely action to address the previously identified non-compliances, according to the report.
Concerns remained about the child protection and welfare team's capacity improve the service, given the significant increase in referral rates to the service.
In the previous 12 months, there had been 877 referrals to the service and there were continued deficits in resources, posing risks to children accessing the service.
Not all children were allocated a social worker.
A dedicated team was established as a short-term measure to oversee cases moving from intake and assessment teams to the services alternative care team.
Some 61% of children were assigned to this dedicated team while they awaited the allocation of a social worker, during which time specific tasks were completed by an assigned social worker and social care staff.
A review of case files demonstrated that there were gaps in communication with children once they were in their placements.
Staff identified workload as the reason for colleagues leaving the service with most saying the service was "completely overwhelmed".
Tusla says report recognises progress, highlights challenges
Responding to the findings, Tusla said that while the report highlighted risks and ongoing challenges, it also recognised meaningful progress made since the previous inspection in November 2023.
These, it said, included improvements in governance, staff training, case management and oversight structures and these developments have taken place in what continues to be an exceptionally high-demand and inherently complex service environment.
While improvements were noted by HIQA - the 2023 inspection resulted in a failure in nine out of ten standards - the latest inspection has failed it in seven out of eight standards.
Tusla said the report noted the commitment of staff to deliver the highest possible care in what is "a high-pressure, demand-led, and at times a crisis-driven environment", and that improvements to service delivery are evident.
Manager of National Services and Integration for Tusla Lorna Kavanagh fully acknowledged the findings of HIQA and recognised the urgency of the work that remains to be done.
"The Separated Children Seeking International Protection Service operates in a challenging, risk-laden, fast-changing context - marked by rising referrals and inherently complex needs," she said.
"We are clear about the range of challenges and risks faced by the service, and we are deeply committed to addressing the issues raised and ensuring that all children in our care receive a safe, timely and appropriate service.
"Significant steps have already been taken - including an increase in staff, stronger interagency collaboration, and more robust governance - and we are determined to build on this momentum to deliver continuing improvement."
