Written answers

Wednesday, 3 March 2021

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Covid-19 Pandemic

Photo of Claire KerraneClaire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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591. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the impact of the loss of family supports, community supports and voluntary community supports that cannot be put in place due to Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11538/21]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am conscious of the negative impacts caused by COVID-19 to children, young people and their families, and the serious disruption to their lives. The effect on those in our society who are already vulnerable, or who have additional needs, can be even greater.

My Department has worked closely with Tusla, the Child and Family Agency to support services across Ireland, and those working directly with children and young people have taken a leading role in delivering an innovative response to this crisis. Tusla has developed Child and Family Support Networks (CFSNs) across Ireland, through the Prevention, Partnership and Family Support Programme. The CFSNs consist of local services that play a role in the lives of children and families. The networks aim to ensure that there is no wrong door for families seeking help, by directing them to the right support in their community. There are 118 CFSNs across Ireland.

A key structure for service planning in Ireland are Children and Young People's Services Committees (CYPSC). CYPSC help children and young people by co-operating across agencies. In 2020 CYPSC diverted 50% of funding allocated by DCEDIY towards COVID-19 related initiatives in their communities. These initiatives include school meals provision and distribution, mental health and wellbeing supports, delivery of activity packs to children and families, working with homelessness accommodation services, working with the Children Rights Alliance on a privately funded food provision scheme in local communities in disadvantaged areas and the co–ordination of school supports/digital divide supports. In 2021 CYPSC continue to utilise DCEDIY funding to co-ordinate various initiatives in response to COVID-19.

Tusla also directly supports family support services through structures including Family Resource Centres (FRCs) and the Tusla ABC Programme. FRCs are Ireland’s largest family support programme delivering universal services to families across the country such as education, community groups and counselling services. With 121 Centres nationwide, FRCs work to meet the needs of many local areas.

In response to COVID-19 public health measures, organisations delivering parenting and family supports adapted their services throughout 2020. Services have coordinated with School Completion Programmes, Tusla and the Gardaí to distribute essential goods, and adapted to remote service delivery. For parents, many family support and home visiting services are working remotely or delivering online resources including learning and play plans for young children.

The Tusla ABC Programme is an area based prevention and early intervention initiative delivered across 12 areas of significant socio-economic disadvantage in areas across the country, operating as part of the wider Tusla Prevention, Partnership and Family Support Programme (PPFS). I am conscious that ABC sites have taken numerous measures to address effects of COVID-19, including remote delivery of some interventions with particular attention to those who are vulnerable. Tusla have implemented a 5 Level Roadmap aligned to wider Government efforts.

Finally, I wish to note that my Department recently re-launched the Supporting Children campaign. Supporting Children was designed to acknowledge the potential harms of the current public health crisis and to draw attention to the robust network of supports which exist for those in need across areas including Parenting and Family Support, Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence and Child Protection and Welfare. It also encourages all of us to look out for vulnerable children and young people and highlights many significant adaptions of services across Ireland to COVID-19.

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