CHILD NEGLECT and abuse feeds into anti-social behaviour and, if not addressed effectively, can lead young people into lives of violence, desperation and crime. There is nothing new about this destructive momentum. The Government has been aware of it for years. And yet a review of child and family services in the State has identified major shortcomings in social services along with extensive waiting lists of child abuse referrals. What makes the situation intolerable is that this is the first official report in more than a decade when, by law, an annual review is required.
Ignoring unpalatable truths has become a hallmark of government. But certain trends cannot be ignored with safety. The growing level of brute violence and criminality in our society is clearly linked to damaged childhoods and social deprivation. Certain urban areas in Dublin, Cork and Limerick produce a large percentage of our prison population and provide a backdrop for criminal gangs. These are the areas most in need of comprehensive early-intervention State services and family support systems.
Social planning is no different from economic planning, in that a wise government invests for the future. Taoiseach-in-waiting Brian Cowen has insisted that capital spending projects will go ahead. That is the right decision, even as Government revenues contract. In the same way, investment in family support services, education and skills training in deprived areas should be prioritised at a time of rising unemployment in order to head off an increase in social dislocation and the breakdown of families. As Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay observed: "The State typically picks up the pieces after the damage is done. A greater emphasis on family support services would prevent much of this."
This one-and-only report under the Child Care Act refers to 2005 when a shortage of social welfare staff led to long waiting lists for child abuse referrals in Dublin and children at risk failed to receive prompt attention in Cork. A 3.5;-year waiting list for psychiatric assessment existed in Kerry. In response, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said there had been a 17 per cent increase in the number of social workers since that time and a €36 million increase in spending. That may be so, but the impact of those initiatives has been limited and fragmented and it has not turned the tide within the communities concerned.
Now, as the HSE maintains an embargo on recruitment and talks of reducing a range of services in order to keep within its funding allocation, family services need urgent attention and co-ordination. Three years ago, the Department of Health promised a family support strategy. It is still awaited. Services are dominated by crisis management, in which children are taken into care, rather than through a process of early intervention that might protect the child and allow the family to stay together. The number of children at risk has risen dramatically. But funding and resources have not kept pace. That situation must change in the best interests of society.