‘Social workers need proper supervision’

The Government’s new Child and Family Support Agency should not hire any new social workers until it ensures all of its social workers are being properly supervised by more senior staff, according to the chief executive of Barnardos.

His comments come in the aftermath of the publication of the review of deaths of children in care between 2000 and 2010. The standard of care provided to the children was described as a “disgrace” by the children’s minister who said there was a need for an “utterly reformed system of state care and intervention”.

The report found wide-spread evidence of social workers not being allocated to children at risk, of children being shunted from social worker to social worker, and of staff not keeping proper records of their interaction with children.

Fergus Finlay said that children’s services require more social workers, but a clear management structure must first be put in place by the Child and Family Support Agency.

Social work staff need to be “properly supervised”, he said, meaning they need to attend weekly meetings with superiors where decisions made during the week are discussed and validated.

“All the different organisations that work in the childcare field invest hugely in this area. Staff sit down weekly with a senior member of staff and their decisions are discussed, supported and validated. Unfortunately, in parts of the public sector, this only happens once a year and that’s to decide whether they get an increment or not,” he said. “If you don’t have such a structure in place, you hire a 23-year-old and give them two dozen cases in a very disadvantaged area and you just watch them fail. These staff should not be working without supervision”.

According to Mr Finlay, negotiations are ongoing between the HSE, the new agency and the Department of Health, about the new agency’s starting budget with a gap of about €30 million between the €590 million the HSE want to grant it and the approximate €620 million being sought by the new agency’s chiefs.

Barnardos has welcomed the establishment of the new agency, saying a transparent management structure with clear lines of responsibility and accountability should improve decision-making.

Mr Finlay said he believed that positive changes are taking place within child protection services with a national service delivery model and common tools for assessing the needs of children being developed.