Hiqa inspectors find illegal drug use among care centre teens

Children at a care centre in the Southern region routinely engaged in illegal drug use and criminal activity during frequent absences from the facility, according to a report by the State watchdog.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) report into the unnamed centre in the Cork area, which catered for three children aged between 13 and 18 at the time of inspection last July, identified numerous significant risks to child safety.

It was said the centre “lacked capacity to safely manage high risk behaviours” of its residents, and the centre manager “did not have sufficient management oversight to ensure safe outcomes for children”.

Inspectors found that all three children were engaged in the use of illegal substances on a daily basis outside of the centre. They would regularly return under the influence of such substances late at night, and room searches conducted by staff led to the seizure of drug paraphernalia on one occasion, the report said.

When searching a record of significant events that had occurred in the centre, inspectors uncovered details of criminal activity, assault and acts of aggression by the children during excursions in the local community. The centre is a two-story detached house on the outskirts of a busy town.

Such behaviour continued despite interventions from social workers and gardaí, the report said. One particularly serious incident outside the centre in May last year resulted in serious injuries which required medical attention, it said.

A contributory factor to the teenagers’ anti-social behaviour was the high rate of absenteeism at the facility. In the 24 month period prior to the inspection, over 300 absences without authority were recorded, 87 of which were classed as “missing from care” episodes.

Staff feared for their security following a break-in involving two intruders, which they believed was related to the children’s drug use. Suspicious persons and vehicles were also detected in the vicinity of the building around the same time, which they considered to be linked to the intrusion.

While staffing levels during the visit were considered adequate by inspectors, management contended the centre’s roster of 12 staff was an insufficient allocation given the high level of care and attention required by the residents there.

A reduction in supports and services was also found to have had a negative impact on the children’s wellbeing. Despite timely referrals being offered to psychology and drug addiction services, the part-time operation of such supports limited their effectiveness in reversing detrimental behavioural issues, the report said.

So serious were the concerns being raised, Hiqa officials were forced to take the “unusual” step of requesting that a professionals’ meeting be convened immediately to discuss the risks for one particularly problematic child, whose presence in the facility was no longer deemed appropriate due to the extremely challenging nature of the child’s behaviour.

In a statement, Tusla, the Children and Family Agency, said since the inspection it had introduced improvements to the management of “risk taking behaviours that challenge” including setting up plans to manage incidents and the needs of residents, improved security and assessment of emerging risks.