26 children in care, aftercare, or known to protection services died last year

The number of deaths last year of children in care, aftercare, or known to child protection services reached 26, the highest in five years. Three died while in care.

The National Review Panel (NRP), which compiled the figures for its 2014 annual report, said it was “notable that the three young people who died whilst in care all died from suicide”.

In all, eight of the 26 youngsters died by suicide, with males outnumbering females by 3:1.

The NRP, set up in 2010 to review cases where children in care, aftercare, or known to child protection services die or experience serious incidents, said more than a quarter of 103 deaths reviewed since then were from suicide and that “in some cases there were warning signs or previous incidents of self harm”.

While there was “no instance where it was clear that intervention could have prevented a young person from taking their own life”, it was “evident” that all those involved in child protection and welfare “need to be comfortable with addressing suicidal tendencies” as well as “vigilant” about ensuring children or young people... are able to avail of therapeutic services”.

Of the 26 deaths last year, six were infants less than a year old, while 10 occurred among children aged 11-16.

Four of those who died were in aftercare and 19 were known to child protection services. Eight died from natural causes, some of which were congenital, five died as a result of road traffic accidents and two children were murdered. One died as a result of a drug overdose.

The NRP also conducted reviews in relation to reports published in 2014, including the case of a 19-year-old man in care since the age of eight who died from a drug overdose. It found that he had a range of needs “which were not met through contact with the HSE childcare services”.

A review of the case of a 15-year-old who died from a drug overdose found he was allowed “remain too long in an environment where drug misuse was the norm”.

Key learning points identified by the NRP from its reports include problems in respect of local management and practice rather than policy deficits; practice weakness in conducting assessments; difficulty engaging with families and young people. In some cases, social workers displayed a tendency “to repeat the same interventions or recommendations regardless of their previous ineffectiveness”.

NRP chairwoman Helen Buckley said it was clear “there are some enduring challenges Tusla will need to address alongside its reform programme, not least of which is pressure on the system which impacts on the timing and quality of assessment and intervention”.

However, Cormac Quinlan, Tusla’s interim director of policy and strategy, said the children’s deaths “were not connected to the quality of services they received”, but “point to historical deficits in practice and inconsistencies in service provision”.