Foster care guidelines are still not implemented

MORE than a dozen fresh allegations of foster care concerns against specific families have been made in a follow-up investigation into “unacceptable” standards in the sector.

A Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report has found that serious problems are continuing in the HSE’s Dublin north central foster care area.

The investigation, which was published on hiqa.ie last night, took place in March to ensure difficulties highlighted in a July 2010 review had been addressed.

However, according to the independent watchdog, the HSE is still allowing some of the 329 children being fostered in the area to stay in unsuitable and unsafe placements with foster families.

In particular, HIQA said the health body has failed to fully implement “Children First” guidelines to protect foster children from potential risks, and to prevent foster parents with concerning backgrounds from taking in a child.

HIQA said this situation — which includes the lack of a national register of foster complaints called for in the 2010 document — has contributed to 14 new complaints being made against foster carers since the original inspection report last year.

In all, 329 children are in foster care in the area, some of whom with un-assessed and unapproved foster carers.

“Despite the extensive efforts of the area to assess and manage risk for all children, some children continued to be at risk. This was unacceptable,” the HIQA report noted.

The investigation acknowledged that there has been some positive changes in the past 12 months such as an increase in social work posts, a reduction in unallocated cases and improved local systems of gathering and maintaining information and care records.

However, it insisted the HSE must address continuing vetting and transparency flaws in a system that is meant to protect children who are amongst the most vulnerable in society.

The HSE said it is fully committed to implementing all of the recommendations of the HIQA report into foster care in Dublin north central.

The July 2010 investigation found that the HSE was responsible for “significant and serious shortcomings” in the duty of care to a number of these children.

It said the HSE’s fostering services in Dublin north west and Dublin north central were “in a state of crisis” at the time.

In a number of cases children were not visited by a social worker for years, were placed with families despite vetting flaws, or many did not have a social worker assigned to them at all — a breach of existing regulations.

At the time of the original report, HIQA chief executive Dr Tracey Cooper said the HSE had failed in its statutory duty of care to a significant number of children in the areas.