Legal changes won’t solve all problems relating to protecting children

Central to recent reports on the issue of child protection are proposals to change the law and the Constitution.

I have been a public sector social worker for nearly 40 years, more recently as a child care manager in the HSE. Over that period, there has been a persistent perception that the legal system, and changes to the system, have the potential to solve all problems relating to children.

I have great respect for the law and its capacity to protect children. Nevertheless, the most important factor in achieving that aim is the early identification of children at risk, immediate and comprehensive assessment of their needs, and prompt decisions on appropriate actions to meet them. No legislative change will achieve this, unless decision-making processes are professional and speedy.

Speed is essential as childhood is so short and because early years’ experiences provide the foundation for stability in adult life. In my experience, legal processes can be the cause of inordinate delay.

Nevertheless, there is also a professional deficit in the presentation of cases to court. The decision to apply for a care or other order should be based on a comprehensive assessment of a child’s life, history, health, education, emotional and intellectual ability, family structure and capacity, etc. This will be the evidence to justify a court application for an order to protect and meet the child’s needs. Too often, such reports detail behaviours symptomatic of a failure to meet a child’s needs, without identifying those needs.

As a child care manager, deciding on the appropriateness of high support for children on the basis of such reports was frustrating. Frequently, reports would catalogue behaviour that may have followed family breakdown, rejection, multiple care placements with little preparation for, or involvement of, the child. I would rarely have an understanding of the child’s needs or how high support care would meet them. Addressing these two issues should be the priority.

Eric A Plunkett

Carraroe

Co Sligo