Tusla publishes strategy to attract much needed staff

The Child and Family Agency has published a new People Strategy 2022-2024, outlining its efforts to improve its methods of hiring and keeping staff who, it said, 'face a unique set of challenges' in their daily work.

Tusla has said the expected retirement of around 200 staff and a high rate of absence are the key challenges it needs to overcome as it seeks to address its recruitment and retention issues.

The Child and Family Agency has published a new People Strategy 2022-2024, outlining its efforts to improve its methods of hiring and keeping staff who, it said, "face a unique set of challenges" in their daily work, particularly in child welfare and protection.

The strategy says more staff are needed given the increasing demands on its services caused by factors such as the housing and cost of living crises and a 40% increase in protection and interim barring orders last year compared to 2018.

It says it has started to address this with 285 new posts created this year, bringing staffing levels up to 5,500. However, staff turnover, at 7%, is still higher than the HSE average of 6.1%.

It also flags concerns over impending retirements and absence rates.

"The pressure on staff from the increased demand for our services is further exacerbated by staff absence rates with the agency," it says. 

"The total absence rate is currently running at 7.45%, with Child Residential Services seeing absence rates of almost 13%. This compares with the national health and social care absence rate of 6.8%.

"Whilst Covid-19 has driven increased absence rates in the agency and in many organisations, the psychological and physical wellbeing of our people is a key challenge to be addressed. 

Our turnover and staffing capacity are also affected by the staff retirement rate at the agency."

It expects, based on previous trends, that an average of 90 to 100 of its staff will retire in 2022 and the same number again in 2023. 

"This significantly adds to our recruitment challenge to ensure that all our teams are fully staffed and able to grow to meet future demand," it says.

Ways of gauging success or otherwise in recruitment and retention will include reducing the overall turnover of staff to below 6% by the end of 2024, with absence levels below 5% by the same point.

Tusla also wants to see increased satisfaction shown in its staff surveys, an increase in average length of service to more than 10 years, and speedier hiring when it comes to filling vacancies.

Writing in the strategy, Rosarii Mannion, Tusla's national director, People and Change, said: "As an Agency Tusla faces a unique set of challenges where people often have to make difficult decisions about the most integral of relationships, not having 20/20 vision of some or the issues and facing ongoing intense scrutiny.

"We are still living in an uncertain and ever changing environment. with evolving trends emerging on organisational models and structures, digital and technological transformation, changing demographics and diversifying employment relationships. 

"Listening carefully to the views of staff and recognising their contribution in a meaningful way will result in better employee experiences and better outcomes for all."