Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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803. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of high priority cases that have not been allocated a social worker to date. [17666/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I have placed a high priority on addressing the number of children who are without an allocated social worker. I secured additional funding for this purpose in 2017, and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is now in the second year of a 3-year plan to ensure the allocation of a social worker to all children and young people who need one. The Deputy should note that all urgent and emergency cases notified to Tusla are dealt with immediately. Urgent and emergency cases could involve cases of abandonment, allegations of physical and sexual abuse, parental ill health and the need to find an immediate placement, or threat to the safety or life of a child by a third party.

At the end of January 2017 (the latest data available), there was a total of 25,189 open child welfare and protection cases nationwide. An open case is one which is assessed as needing a dedicated (allocated) social work service. Of the 25,189 open cases, 80% (20,173) had an allocated social worker and 5,016 were waiting to be allocated a social worker. Of the children awaiting allocation to a social worker at the end of January, 2017 their priority levels were as follows:

Information on the length of time a child has been awaiting allocation to a social worker is available in respect of the high priority cases. Of the 843 high priority cases awaiting allocation, 271 were waiting less than a month, 194 were waiting one to three months and 378 were waiting in excess of three months. Cases that are unallocated are closely monitored, supported and managed by the duty social work team under the supervision of the principal social worker. Cases to be allocated to a social worker include children who have already received services from Tusla whose social worker is no longer available to them, as well as children waiting to be allocated for the first time. All unallocated cases are assessed and prioritised according to risk.

It is a continuing priority of Tusla to address the problem of unallocated cases in 2017. Tusla currently has 1,467 WTE social workers and an end of 2017 target of 1,520 WTE. This target is short of the target set in Survival to Sustainability by approximately 100 WTE and reflects the constraints of the social work labour supply. Funding is in place to address the issue of unallocated cases, however, the recruitment environment for social workers is very challenging. Tusla is also focusing on intervening at an early stage of a family difficulty through social care and family supports.

My Department will continue to closely monitor progress in this regard. I attach a high priority to tackling this matter and I will continue to engage directly with the Tusla Board and senior management team, over the course of the year, to review progress.