Company housing children in care engaged in ‘deceitful’ practices

A company running emergency accommodation for vulnerable children in State care was involved in “deceitful” practices, which included deleting records and a failure to report issues, an internal review found.

A review by Tusla, the child and family agency, raised serious concerns about several providers running “special emergency arrangements” for children in care.

There are 171 children being housed in these unregulated placements, such as bed and breakfasts, hotels or rented apartments, due to a shortage of spaces in residential group care homes or with foster carers. The review, completed by Tusla in August, found children were being housed in a number of emergency arrangements deemed “high risk”.

In one case, officials found a company running an emergency placement was involved in “deceitful practice”, which included “deletion of records” and the “under-reporting of issues”. The provider had failed to manage “safety concerns” despite repeated directions from Tusla, and did not have an understanding of “basic principles of governance, oversight and good practice”, the review found.

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Concerns about the accommodation had been escalated three times but there had been “no improvement”, the review said.

Tusla refused to release the names of providers criticised in the internal review, with a spokeswoman stating it could not comment on individual cases.

The review, seen by The Irish Times, said “restraints” were being used on young people in some emergency arrangements, while vetting of staff was “not compliant” in another location.

The review questioned the “competency” of another emergency provider housing children in care, who was “under-reporting” significant events.

The provider had “demonstrated that they did not understand what was required to care for young people in the Irish context”, the review said.

It flagged concerns that as the reliance on emergency arrangements grew, “there is evidence of quality of care decreasing”. There were “significant barriers” to young people placed in hotel rooms being able to access proper therapeutic supports, it said. In some cases young people had been moved between different emergency placements a dozen times, the review said.

The arrangements have been criticised as unsuitable and inappropriate by organisations working with children in care and Opposition politicians.

Tusla has drawn up a plan to respond to the “special emergency arrangement crisis”, a draft of which The Irish Times obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. It proposed property owned by Tusla being temporarily repurposed, or other buildings leased, to be used for accommodation run by Tusla staff or agency workers.

There are 5,560 children in State care, with 400 living in group care homes run by either Tusla or contracted voluntary organisations and private companies. Of the further 171 young people in special emergency arrangements, 118 are unaccompanied minors who arrived in the country seeking asylum.

Private and voluntary providers running group care homes told Tusla the sector could potentially deliver 100 extra beds, if extra funding was available.

A “crisis management team” set up by Tusla agreed to prioritise moving any children under 12 years of age out of unregulated emergency placements, according to minutes of a September 6th meeting.

A previous August 17th meeting said the group had been set up “due to the lack of supply in foster carers and residential placements”, which had led to a reliance on special emergency arrangements.

A spokeswoman for Tusla said the increase in emergency arrangements was being treated as “a priority at the highest level within the agency”, with efforts to move young people to regulated placements “as soon as possible”.