HSE placed children with unapproved foster carers after ‘ending’ the practice

SIX weeks after the Health Service Executive (HSE) declared it had ended the dangerous custom of placing children with unapproved and unassessed foster carers, evidence has emerged to show that the unsafe practice actually continued.

On October 5 last, the HSE sent a draft action plan to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), outlining how it proposed to improve the safety of fostering services after the independent health watchdog raised a number of concerns.

In the document, obtained by the Irish Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act, the HSE said there were 225 unapproved relative carers in the Dublin North West and North Central area “where a comprehensive assessment of their ability to care for a child has not been formally approved”. It also said there were approximately 30 non-relative carers given “emergency approval”.