Kids’ safety at risk in state-run centres

Children living in a state-run residential centre were not always safe, an inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) reveals.

When inspectors visited the Owendoher centre in Rathfarnham, Dublin, run by the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, last August, they found staff struggling to cope with challenging behaviours — some of which put the young people at risk.

Some of the children were involved in drug misuse and self-harm and had been associating with adults involved in criminality.