HUNDREDS OF urgent child protection reports are not being assessed or followed up, leaving vulnerable young people in situations where they are at risk of ongoing neglect or abuse, internal social work files show.
In interviews with The Irish Times, social work teams in several parts of the State say they are being forced to ignore potentially serious reports of suspected abuse or neglect due to heavy workloads and under-staffing.
Staff in social services say they are fearful that mistakes are being made and that some at-risk children may die as a result of the failure to intervene with vulnerable young people.
“I feel it’s only a matter of time before there is a major scandal, such as a child being exposed to horrific abuse or neglect due to our inability to respond. Many of us fear that when something goes wrong, we’ll be left out on our own,” one social worker said.
Among the kinds of urgent cases outlined in social work files which are not receiving a social work response include:
A 10-year-old who is self-harming and expressing suicidal thoughts. This child is also very aggressive towards other children and the mother appears unable to cope.
A young teenager who is being neglected and has been found in the company of older men, with concerns she may be sexually abused.
A boy with apparent mental health problems whose behaviour is eccentric and whose mother is not responding to appointments with psychological or mental health services. His school has expressed serious concerns about him.
A 13-year-old girl who has not been to school for a number of years and whose mother is neglecting her and is unable to cope;
Four young children living in a house with very poor hygiene; they are believed to be neglected by their mother, who is unable to cope;
A teenager who has tried to kill himself and is at high risk because he has lost close friends to suicide in recent months;
A young boy who has been admitted to hospital on a number of occasions with head injuries which are likely to be linked to his aggressive mother. Other children in this family have been taken into care.
Social workers in several areas say they are under unprecedented strain. They say the number of cases being referred to social services has increased significantly over the past year, possibly due to high-profile child abuse cases in Roscommon and elsewhere. Latest figures show there are a record 6,128 children in the care system.
Many social work staff say they have continually voiced concerns to management over gaps in child protection services, but claim there has been little meaningful change on the ground.
In particular, they say they are only able to respond quickly to the most urgent “emergency” cases. As a result, less serious concerns are placed on waiting lists and often only receive a social work response months later or if they escalate into a more serious issue.
“Hundreds of these cases are not getting a response,” said one social worker, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“They are being added to growing waiting lists. No additional resources are being made available to deal with these backlogs. As a result, these children remain at risk.”
In a statement, the HSE said it was aware of gaps in services but pointed out that it has embarked on a three-year “change programme” to improve child and family services.
In addition, officials say significant additional resources are being targeted at the area. Two hundred social workers were recruited in 2010, in addition to the back-filling of 249 social work posts during the year. A further 60 social workers are currently being recruited.
“Given the scale of this programme of work and impact on existing services the transformation of child and family services will take considerable time, effort, perseverance and collaboration,” the HSE said in a statement.
However, several social workers say that despite new recruitment there is an unofficial embargo on hiring staff in place. Several sources say the hiring of staff to replace those on maternity leave or leaving the services have been blocked by the HSE’s human resources department in recent weeks.