HSE and minister defend special care service for children at risk

THE HSE and the Minister for Children yesterday defended its special care service for vulnerable children after a report claimed there were deficiencies in the system.

The report, commissioned by the Children Acts Advisory Board, which has since been subsumed into the Office of the Minister for Children, tracked the fortunes of 70 applications for special care admission from 2007 to late 2009, and found that the risk factors at play in the lives of the children involved hadonly improved in half the cases.

It also recommended changes in how the service is managed, including boosting psychiatric and psychological supports and tackling issues such as youth homelessness.