The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published two inspection reports on the foster care service operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Dublin North service area and the Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan service area.

HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs under Section 69 of the Child Care Act, 1991, as amended by Section 26 of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011, to inspect foster care services provided by Tusla, to report on its findings to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and to inspect services taking care of a child on behalf of Tusla, including non-statutory providers of foster care. HIQA monitors foster care services against the 2003 National Standards for Foster Care.

As part of its 2017 monitoring programme, HIQA is conducting thematic inspections across all 17 Tusla service areas which focus on the recruitment, assessment, approval, supervision and review of foster carers. These thematic inspections are announced and will cover eight standards relating to this theme.

Of the eight standards inspected against in the Dublin North area, four were substantially compliant, and four were non-compliant, three of which were major non-compliances. The reasons for the major non-compliances included An Garda Síochána (police) vetting of foster cares not being updated, inadequate arrangements to ensure that safeguarding visits to unallocated foster carers had taken place, and significant delays in approving relative carers who had children placed with them for a considerable period of time. A significant number of foster carers (82%) had not had a review in more than three years. The Standards outline that the first review should take place one year after the first placement and subsequent reviews should take place at three-yearly intervals thereafter. A plan was submitted by the area to have all reviews up to date by June 2018.

Good practice was found in Dublin North with good-quality assessments of foster carers, supervision and support of foster carers who were allocated was adequate, and completed reviews were of a good quality.

In the Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan service area, two of the standards were substantially compliant. However, the remaining six standards were non-compliant, of which three were major non-compliances. In the 12 months prior to the inspection there had been a high level of staff turnover, including several changes of principal social worker and periods of staff shortages. As a result, the frequency of visits to foster carers had been impacted. Garda vetting had not been updated for 34% of foster carers, and half of all foster carers had not been reviewed in over three years. Relatives who had children placed with them were not supervised and supported while awaiting their assessments to be completed.

In particular, there were significant concerns about the recording, filing and IT systems in the area, as critical information in relation to foster carers was often difficult to establish. Complaints were not appropriately classified and key information pertaining to foster carers was not readily accessible. Due to the significant concerns in relation to the filing, recording and IT systems in the area, inspectors were concerned about the managerial oversight and monitoring of the fostering service and escalated this issue to the area manager, who provided HIQA with an action plan to address these deficits.

The service areas have provided an action plan response to address the non-compliances identified on inspection.