Referrals to Tusla surged after schools reopened

There were 141 referrals made to Tusla involving children from the managers of domestic violence refuges in the first three months of this year. Picture: iStock

There were 141 referrals made to Tusla involving children from the managers of domestic violence refuges in the first three months of this year, and a surge overall in the total number of referrals as schools reopened following the lockdown of January and February.

Tusla's monthly report for March shows there were 6,420 referrals that month, 1,322 (26%) more than in February 2021 (5,098) and highest number for the period February 2020-March 2021. Referrals were up 25% on those made in March 2020.

In addition, 1,550 mandated reports of abuse were received in March this year – 468 (43%) more than in February.

As with the first wave of the pandemic when schools closed, the number of mandated reports made to Tusla by teachers fell dramatically, while there was a noticeable increase in the number of such reports made by refuges.

The highest number of reports to Tusla this year have come from gardaí. File picture

The highest number of reports to Tusla this year have come from gardaí, followed by social workers, and teachers have still been responsible for 10% of all mandated reports in the first quarter of 2021.

That includes 17% of reports made in March, when some schools reopened. However, 50 such reports were made in March by the managers of domestic violence refuges, out of a total for the first three months of 141.

Retrospective abuse

The figures also show a jump in referrals and reports of retrospective abuse in March.

The report also shows 1,772 children on the register for home education at the end of last March as the figure continues to climb, with 1,477 on a waiting list for assessment.

Meanwhile, Cork had the highest number of child welfare and protection referrals of any area in the country last year, while the latest quarterly report from Tusla also shows a surge in the number of people entering the adoption tracing process.

The Tusla quarterly report is for the first three months of this year but also has full-year data for 2020 for referrals to Child Protection and Welfare Services. 

There were 69,712 referrals in total made to the Child and Family Agency last year, but it said that number is not comparable with data for 2019 as a result of "a new and improved methodology of capturing all of the need which is referred to us". There were 56,561 referrals made in 2019.

The areas reporting the highest numbers of referrals last year were Cork (6,736), Midlands (6,661), Dublin South West/Kildare/West Wicklow (6,502) and Dublin North (6,473).

Last year, 45% of all referrals related to welfare concerns, with 32% relating to abuse/neglect and the primary report type not recorded for the remaining 24% (16,638) of referrals.