Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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183. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which her Department has been made aware of the need for child development support in the home and outside in respect of children and teenagers with particular reference to children at risk; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14652/14]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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186. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which, in respect of children deemed to be at risk whether in a family situation or outside of family, her Department has sufficient outreach resources to be in a position to respond adequately in any such situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14655/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 183 and 186 together.

Responsibility for promoting the welfare and protection of children at risk is a key function of the Child and Family Agency.

The Agency is bringing a renewed focus to the delivery of safe and effective services for children and families who need a wide continuum of supports and interventions. It is addressing the persistent issues which have been raised regarding the standardisation of services, communication, coordination and sharing of risk assessment, management and treatment for many children and families with the most complex needs. It is also tasked with developing a role in supporting families more universally by providing less complex, less intrusive and less expensive responses which have a preventive function. The emphasis is on prevention, early intervention, family support and therapeutic and care interventions which are key to the provision of integrated multi-disciplinary services for children and families in need.

All referrals made to the Child and Family Agency are managed through the Standardisation Business Process. Professional risk analysis is carried out by the duty social worker, supervised by the team leader of the relevant child welfare and protection team. Every report of concern for the safety and well-being of a child is assessed and required action is identified.

In identifying risk it is the professional judgement of the duty social worker to assess if immediate action is required. This is decided based on the information received on the referral, the seriousness of the abuse reported, the likely level of risk to the future safety and welfare of the child and the degree of professional confidence in the information that either the abuse has occurred and is likely to be repeated or that the child is at immediate risk.

Where ongoing risk is identified a variety of interventions may be employed through the various systems in place to ensure that children deemed to be at immediate risk are identified and managed accordingly. The level of resource available to the Child and Family Agency is designed to support the approach described above in responding to identified risk and the adequacy of this resource will continue to be the subject of close scrutiny by my Department in consultation with the Agency.