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.

At the time of the inspection, three 17-year-olds were living in the centre. Two young people lived in the centre for more than five years and one had lived there for just under three years. One was a separated child seeking asylum.

The centre provides places for four boys and girls from age 13 to 18 years in full-time education.

The inspectors found staff and management had not addressed the unsuitability of the placements and the long-term risk of harm. Because staff were committed to keeping the young people in their ‘home’ this was at a cost because some of them needed specialist services and facilities not available in the centre.

Children had been absent from the centre without permission on 25 occasions. In most cases it was the same person who was going missing — one absence exceeded five days.

Inspectors found that the centre’s response to risk was to manage it on an event by event basis — there was no risk register.

The report points out that each of the young people had a designated social worker who visited them and was notified of significant events.