Written answers

Thursday, 13 July 2017

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Child and Family Agency Staff

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1146. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children in foster care that have not been allocated a social worker, broken down by priority level and the number of weeks waiting. [34170/17]

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1147. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average waiting time for a child to be allocated a social care worker. [34171/17]

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1146 and 1147 together.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has informed me that, at the end of April 2017, there were 5,810 children in foster care (general and relative). Of these, 293 (5%) did not have an allocated social worker. It is important to note that if a child has not been allocated a social worker, their needs are reviewed regularly by the principal social worker. Tusla does not collate a breakdown of children in foster care awaiting allocation of a social worker by wait time or priority level.

I can tell the Deputy that there were 5,948 open cases awaiting allocation nationally at the end of April. An open case is one which is assessed as needing a dedicated (allocated) social work service.

Of these, 903 were designated as high priority, 3,607 as medium priority and 1,438 as low priority.

The following table displays waiting times for the allocation of a social worker for the open cases awaiting allocation at the end of April 2017:

Table 1 *

No of open cases by length of time awaiting allocation

<1 week377
1-2 weeks307
2-3 weeks464
3-4 weeks426
1-2 months1,082
2-3 months677
> 3 months2,615

*Data as per the last day of April 2017.

Addressing the number of children who are awaiting the allocation of a social worker is a priority for me. I secured additional funding for the purpose of addressing this issue in 2017, and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is now in the second year of a 3-year plan to provide for the allocation of a dedicated social worker to all children 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 leading to the need for an immediate placement, or threat to the safety or life of a child by a third party.

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.

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