The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published an inspection report on the child protection and welfare service operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Kerry service area. 

HIQA conducted a focused inspection of Tusla’s Child Abuse Substantiation Procedure (CASP) in the Kerry service area between 16 and 19 September 2024. Of the five standards assessed, the service was found to be substantially compliant with three standards and not compliant with two standards.

Overall, there were clearly defined governance and management systems in place and the area’s senior management team was committed to working within limited staff resources to deliver a CASP service. However, the management systems in place were not always effective and required improvement to address the findings of this inspection.

Risk, at an individual and systems level, was not always appropriately identified and managed. While there were clear child protection procedures and systems in place to ensure the effective safeguarding of children through the CASP, not all child protection concerns were assessed in line with Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017). In addition, the vulnerability, safety and individual needs of all children were not always considered and supported. 

The provider was not fulfilling its obligations under the National Vetting Bureau Act (2012) with regard to the submission of notifications to the National Vetting Bureau. In a number of CASP cases reviewed, consideration was not given to ‘bona fide’ concerns and the submission of a vetting notification to safeguard children was significantly delayed.

Staff were generally child centred in their approach to progressing cases through the CASP, while at the same time ensuring fair procedures and due process were afforded to the person against whom the allegation had been made. However, there were delays in communication in a significant number of CASP cases and individual communication needs were not always recognised or supported. In addition, leaflets to explain the CASP process were not child friendly or easy to understand, there were no leaflets for parents and leaflets were only available in English on the Tusla website. The need for more child-friendly communication had been a finding from each of the four previous HIQA CASP inspections undertaken in 2023. It was therefore a concern that, more than a year since issues were first identified by HIQA, improvements in communication had not progressed. 

While there was no waiting list for the CASP service and all open  cases had an allocated social worker, the protracted timelines set out in the CASP were not consistently met and there were significant delays in their progression. These delays had an impact on the ability of Tusla to act in a timely way to progress safeguarding actions for children who may be at risk. In addition, the procedure did not fully address the findings of HIQA’s 2018 investigation into the management of allegations of child sexual abuse against adults of concern by Tusla.

The capacity of the area to adequately resource the CASP service had been an ongoing issue and was on the area risk register since the commencement of CASP in June 2022. While a regional working group had been set up in early 2024 to consider a quality improvement plan for the CASP service to move from an area-based service, to a regional service covering the entire Tusla south west region, this had not been progressed.

Notes:

• HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under Section 8(1) (c) of the Health Act 2007 to monitor the quality of services provided by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) to protect children and promote their welfare. HIQA monitors Tusla’s performance against the National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2012) and advises the Minister and Tusla.
• In order to meet its statutory obligations, Tusla must carry out an assessment of allegations of child abuse in line with fair procedures. This substantiation assessment examines evidence and decides if an allegation is founded or unfounded on the balance of probabilities. This is not a criminal investigation. If the allegation is founded, a determination is made that the person who is the subject of the abuse allegations poses a potential risk to a child or children. Tusla calls its national standardised process the ‘Child Abuse Substantiation Procedure’ (CASP), which came into effect in June 2022.