Tusla had 236 children missing from care in last eight months

In a written Dáil reply to Mark Ward TD, Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman (pictured) said in all cases, the children were returned to the care of Tusla. File photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Tusla has revealed that 236 children have been reported missing from the care of the Child and Family Agency this year.

The figures, provided by the Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman TD, revealed that 236 children were reported missing in the first eight months of this year, compared to 295 for the 12 months of 2021, 319 in 2020, and 366 in 2019.

In a written Dáil reply to Mark Ward TD, Minister O’Gorman said in all cases, the children were returned to the care of Tusla. Minister O’Gorman said the figures relate to children placed in residential care by Tusla across all care settings including statutory, voluntary, private and special care.

He said the figures refer to incidents where a child is missing for a period of 20 minutes or longer. Generally, most of the incidents/reports are for children missing for less than 24 hours.

Minister O’Gorman said that children reported missing from care “are recognised as being among the most vulnerable in society”.

He said: “Tusla along with An Garda Síochána work together on such cases through a Joint Protocol where children can be listed as missing from care after a certain period if there is a concern about their safety, well-being, or if there is a risk present.

“The joint protocol sets out how social workers and social care workers should make a report of a missing child in care; when and how information about the child may be released to the public if the child is not located, and arrangements for the return of the child to care when they are found.”

15% rise in referrals

Meanwhile, the number of referrals to Tusla in the first six months of this year increased by 15% compared to the same period last year, driven in part by a 28% rise in mandated reports in the same period.

The data, contained in the monthly report for June, shows significantly higher numbers of mandated reports across all areas, led by emotional abuse.

According to the report, Tusla received 6,933 referrals in June, bringing to at least 40,172 the number of referrals for the first six months of 2022, 5,340 (15%) more than the same period in 2021.

Part of that was down to 1,887 mandated reports of abuse received in June, meaning at least 10,861 mandated reports were made for the first six months of this year, 2,400 (28%) more than the same period in 2021.

Most came from gardaí then social workers and teachers, although 380 came from managers of domestic violence refuges, ahead of the same rate from that source last year.

There were also 428 referrals of retrospective abuse in June, meaning 2,539 such referrals in the first half of this year, 66% more than the same period in 2021.

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The report also points out that the June data is up until June 27, when the new Tusla Child Abuse Substantiation Procedure (CASP) was implemented. That procedure - the subject of initial controversy and then revision following consultation with various organisations which support survivors - replaced the “Policy and Procedures for Responding to Allegations of Abuse and Neglect”, which has been in use since 2014.

Maeve Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of One in Four, a support group for survivors of sex abuse, said it was too early to say how the new policy was operating but that while it was an improvement on what was initially proposed, One In Four were strongly of the view that recommended changes suggested by outgoing Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Prof. Conor O'Mahony, be implemented.