Secure unit for troubled teens slated by State inspectors

THE country’s only secure facility for troubled teenagers has been severely criticised by State inspectors.

Stressed staff are leaving Ballydowd Special Care Unit in droves; management appear unable to provide consistent leadership, and care regulations are often disregarded, according to the Irish Social Services Inspectorate (SSI).

Many key recommendations from the inspectorate’s first inspection in June 2001 have not been implemented and standards have dropped significantly in the interim, the inspectors found.

After an announced inspection in March, the SSI concluded that Ballydowd was not providing the troubled teenagers with the services they needed to improve and warned: “It cannot be acceptable to deprive young people of their liberty for their own welfare and protection unless it can be clearly demonstrated that their liberty is being restricted in order to help them to overcome the difficulties that made this necessary. This failure undermines the whole raison d’être of special care.”

The inspectors plan to carry out a repeat inspection in the short-term to ensure that recommendations are implemented. High staff turnover and soaring sickness rates as a result of assaults and pressure had created an atmosphere of crisis which affected the teenagers and left little room for supervision and training of the remaining staff, the report found.

“They (staff) became locked in an unhealthy cycle, where they became tired and stressed due to the pressure of too much work and too little rest. Most of those interviewed eventually succumbed and had to take sick leave.

“What made these situations worse was that during this period there was little or no opportunity for training or supervision of staff, little opportunity to ‘come up for air’ and reflect on what was happening for young people, staff and Ballydowd generally,” the SSI found. Last February, the director and two deputy directors were on sick leave at the same time and an interim management team remained in a temporary position until September, exacerbating the staff’s sense of uncertainty and instability. Among the other problems highlighted were:

Failure to monitor standards at Ballydowd, which is a legal requirement. The inspectors describe this failure as “unacceptable.”

Failure by the SWAHB to act on some complaints made by young people.

While the education system in Ballydowd was described as excellent, access to some specialist and therapeutic services was restricted.

The inspectors stress that Ballydowd cannot be expected to solve all the problems of the troubled residents. Nonetheless, they found serious inadequacies in the service offered and in the South Western Area Health Board’s management of the unit.

“Professionals from outside of the unit stated that Ballydowd offered primarily physical containment and did not sufficiently address the therapeutic needs of the young people placed there,” the report found. Although many staff were positive about their work with the young people, the unit was dogged by pay and conditions problems, and assaults on staff were common.

The SSI warned that the practice of not obtaining Garda clearance for every staff member had to stop immediately.

However, the inspectors stress that the education programmes and social work standards were good and concede that the staff shortages and anger at pay and conditions would have taxed any management team.

The SWAHB last night published a nine-page plan outlining its plans to comply with each of the inspectors’ 22 recommendations.

The board is setting up a multi-disciplinary team and developing a step-down facility. They plan to increase staff numbers by almost 100% and have pledged to fully train all recruits.

Minister for children Brian Lenihan yesterday said he had asked the CEO of the ERHA to ensure the unit is run properly.