Watchdog intervenes over concerns at running of HSE care teen facility

An independent watchdog has intervened in the operation of a HSE-run care home where the children were engaging in high-risk behaviour, including taking drugs, drinking alcohol, inhaling butane gas, thieving and damaging property.

According to the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), the centre located in Child and Family Agency, Cork area, “was operated in a manner which could not ensure children were always safe and protected from themselves and each other”.

The Hiqa report states that the centre is a four-bedroomed, detached home in a residential area on the outskirts of an un-named town and was home to three people of mixed genders between 13 and 18 years of age.