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Child Protection Meeting our Responsibilities

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Title: Child Protection Meeting our Responsibilities


1
Child Protection-Meeting our Responsibilities
  • Presentation for the IMO AGM
  • Ineke Durville
  • President - Irish Association of Social Workers

2
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

3
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

4
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.

5
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)

6
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

7
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)

8
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

9
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

10
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.

11
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

12
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

13
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.

14
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)

15
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

16
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

17
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

18
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

19
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

20
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

21
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.

22
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

23
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.

24
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

25
Lack of back up service
  • Shortage of administrative supports
  • Inappropriate accommodation facilities
  • Lack of access facilities for parents and
    children
  • Shortage of interview rooms

26
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

27
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

28
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.
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