HSE failure to vet foster carers ‘just tip of the iceberg’

POOR practice within the social care system whereby foster carers were not vetted before children were placed with them is only the tip of the iceberg, it has been warned.

The Irish Association of Young People in Care said ensuring that children in foster care are protected and kept safe means that, in addition to being vetted, every foster carer undergoes training, assessment and approval.

Jennifer Gargan, director of the IAYPIC said it was expected further reports from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), set to be published soon, would be damning and uncover further bad practice which has been going on for years within the HSE.

Ms Gargan said foster carers should be supported by an allocated fostering social worker and every child should have an allocated social worker.

IAYPIC was raising concerns following a review by the HSE South region which found that one-third of foster carers had not been subjected to background checks.

“Who is safeguarding a child in a placement where there is no social worker allocated to the child or foster carer?” she asked.

“Who is ensuring that the standards for foster care are being met when there are insufficient inspectors to monitor even a fraction of foster care placements?”

With about 4,700 children in foster care, IAYPIC urge the HSE to urgently review practice in relation to foster care provision to ensure that all of these children are protected and kept safe.

Labour spokesperson on Equality Kathleen Lynch said the disclosure that children had been routinely fostered with people who were not vetted is deeply disturbing and required an urgent response from the HSE and the Minister for Children, Barry Andrews. She said it “almost defied belief” that in one case a child was placed with a foster carer who had a number of criminal convictions and had not been vetted.

“The results of this audit would suggest that we have learned little from the experiences of recent decades and that unacceptable risks are still being taken with the welfare of children,” she said. “While some of these cases might have involved fostering within families it would be absolutely shocking if children were being handed over to third parties without any vetting.

“We need to know the full details of the number of children fostered to non-vetted families in the Southern Region and we need to know if the practice took place in other HSE areas.”