A multimillion euro purpose-built centre for highly troubled children opened just over a year ago is "operating in crisis", according to a report by inspectors.
The report said the findings on Crannóg Nua high-support unit in north Dublin raised serious concerns about its capacity to provide a service for troubled young people. The centre, which comprises three eight-bed residential units in Portrane, was established in August 2002. To date it has cared for only five children.
Run by the Northern Area Health Board (NAHB), it has experienced considerable difficulty recruiting staff even though it conducted 13 recruitment competitions, three of them overseas.
"At the time of inspection Crannóg Nua was not operating effectively and was experiencing considerable instability. The capacity to manage young people who present with high-risk and challenging behaviour was presenting serious difficulties for the unit," the report from the Irish Social Services Inspectorate (ISSI), which has just been published, said.
There were just three young people in the centre during the inspection last September, one in each of the three units.
Staff told inspectors of their struggle to manage violent behaviour. Some believed the wrong young people had been admitted.
However, inspectors were informed that, in the view of the NAHB, all of the young people had been appropriately placed.
"These differences must be addressed if Crannóg Nua is to offer a service that responds to identified need and meets with the expectations of the NAHB.
"In the absence of this, as has been seen to date, the capacity of Crannóg Nua to care for highly troubled young people who present with challenging behaviour, is highly questionable," the report said. The inspectors found there was a high reliance on Garda intervention. Gardaí were called when the young people refused to take direction from staff. The inspectors believed this caused more problems than it solved.
"Young people are likely to have picked up the message that the staff cannot cope with them."
Inspectors said they were conscious that in planning the service, great attention was paid to "getting it right" and learning lessons from other units.
However, staff were experiencing anxiety and stress and a number had been assaulted. One of the young people had been charged with criminal damage to the unit. The unit's operational strategy, the report said, should be urgently reviewed.
In general, social workers visited on a monthly basis, the report said, but one social worker did not visit for a three-month period. While this met minimum requirements, inspectors considered this insufficient for a young person in a high-support unit.
The inspectors also expressed concern that discharges from the unit did not take place in a planned manner. They were particularly concerned about the circumstances in which one young person, who had been in the unit for a year, was discharged.
He was not told in advance that he was being sent to a special care unit. The reason given was that his behaviour would get worse and he would present management problems for staff. This, the report said, "represents poor childcare practice".
Although the unit was new, the inspectors noted a number of safety hazards. Shower jets caused the whole floor in the toilet area to become wet, which could cause someone to slip, and the water could leak onto carpet in the bedroom area. And glass in the fire doors, while complying with fire safety regulations, broke into shards when kicked by the youngsters.