Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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184. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of staff, in terms of whole-time equivalents, employed at the National Education Welfare Board as education welfare officers nationally and within the city and county of Dublin; her views on whether the numbers are adequate. [4700/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware the functions and operational responsibilities of the former National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) are now part of the new Child and Family Agency, which was established on 1 January 2014. Since this date the staff of the former NEWB, including its Education Welfare Officers, have transferred to the new Agency. The three service strands formerly under the remit of NEWB – the statutory Educational Welfare Service and the School Support programme services (Home-School Community Liaison Scheme and the School Completion Programme) under the DEIS strategy – collectively form the Educational Welfare Services of the new Agency.

Within the Child and Family Agency, the statutory Education Welfare Service (EWS) has specific responsibility for the Agency’s general function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The EWS has a current staffing complement of 74 officers delivering front line services, 2 of whom have duties in relation to the assessment of education in places other than recognised schools.

The Agency has advised me that nationally there are 70.86 whole time equivalent Educational Welfare Officers employed in the Educational Welfare Service (12 of whom are Senior Educational Welfare Officers and 3 are Regional Managers), while there are 21.88 whole time equivalent Educational Welfare Officers employed within the Greater Dublin Area (3 of whom are Senior Educational Welfare Officers and 1 is a Regional Manager). Vacancies that arise in staffing front line services for children and young people at risk of early school leaving will be prioritised by the Agency, in consultation with my Department, in so far as possible working within Government policy on public service numbers and the moratorium on recruitment.

I am advised by the Agency that the EWS worked with over 20,000 children in 2012, of which 2,420 were intensive interventions which required sustained support from an Education Welfare Officer and a multidisciplinary approach in order to address the complex barriers to school attendance.

The Child and Family Agency will deliver an integrated approach to educational welfare services through the continued reform of work practices in its three service strands, namely; the Education Welfare Service (EWS); Home School Community Liaison Programme (HSCL – 402 school-based co-ordinators); and School Completion Programme (SCP – €26.456m in funding provided to support 124 school cluster projects and related initiatives). This integrated model of service will provide an enhanced response to the needs of children, families and schools. Education welfare interventions will also be aligned with the overall assessment processes under the National Service Delivery Framework. As part of this process the Agency is also reviewing the basis on which the EWS is configured and a consultation process is underway with staff to reconfigure services based on the needs of children and young people. This strategic national approach is a crucial reform in our efforts to improve school attendance, participation and retention.

The decision by Government to amalgamate the NEWB and its services into the new Child and Family Agency broadens the focus of the Agency and tackles educational welfare as a key outcome for children in its own right and as a positive contributor to other outcomes. It will provide opportunities for more effective working amongst the range of professionals involved in directly supporting children and their families.