26 young people known to social services died last year, says study

An independent review into the deaths of 26 young people known to social services last year has raised concern over long waiting lists for mental health services.

Figures just released show most deaths last year were the result of suicide (eight) or natural causes (eight). Others were from road traffic incidents, homicide or drug overdoses.

Most of the young people were living with families who were known to child protection services. A smaller number were either in the State’s care system or in aftercare.

The independent National Review Panel – tasked with investigating serious incidents in the care system – also published detailed reports into the circumstances surrounding 12 deaths.

Four of these cases concerned young women between the ages of 14 and 19 with emotional difficulties who had taken their own lives.

Waiting lists

Dr

Helen Buckley

, chair of the National Review Panel, said three of these teenagers had been on lengthy waiting lists for psychology services. One of them was unable to access a mental health service in the days leading up to her death.

Dr Buckley said the panel found delays in accessing psychology services of up to two years in some cases. She said a more integrated mental health service is going to be required if children and young people are to receive the kind of urgent care they require.

The panel also found that a gap in services concerned young people who were at risk of suicide – but had not been diagnosed with a mental illness – who found it very difficult to get appropriate services on time.

Services required

“It is clear that many of the services required by these children and young people were outside the control of the Child and Family Agency,” Dr Buckley said.

“Until there is a fully integrated, whole-of-government approach to child protection, children will not be comprehensively protected.”

The agency took over responsibility from the HSE for child and family services last year. However, child and adolescent services remained with the executive, partly on foot of resistance from health professionals.

Dr Buckley said there needed to be a review of the channels of communication between the agency and adult mental health services. She also said the panel was aware of the pressure under which social work departments were operating, particularly the high referral rates and staff shortages. A high turnover of social workers was another theme in cases that were subject to reviews.

In one case, a child had 18 social workers over a 10-year period; another had five in just five months. The allocation of cases to social workers was cited as another issue. Some risky cases were left unallocated for long periods due to local pressures or staff shortages.