Tusla puts measures into action

TUSLA – Child and Family Agency has responded to a report into foster care in the north west region.

Commenting on the reports’ findings, Patricia Finlay, Service Director of Tusla said: “HIQA inspections are an important measurement and oversight tool for us in Tusla.

“These inspection reports demonstrate that children and foster carers in these areas are supported and safeguarded by social workers.”

She went on to say: “Tusla is putting measures in place to improve the services and standards in the Sligo / Leitrim / West Cavan region in a timely and measurable way.”

These measures include the following: Sligo / Leitrim / West Cavan: pleted for two foster carers who did not have evidence of appropriate Garda vetting on file.

Tusla has begun renewing Garda vetting for foster carers whose vetting had not been updated in the past three years;

• Two additional staff have been allocated to the fostering team to allow more frequent home visits and more timely assessments;

• Prior to the HIQA inspection, Tusla put a schedule in place for foster carer reviews in 2017;

• Tusla will review case recording on foster carer files and the quality of case recording will also be audited through supervision;

• The area is developing a formal retention strategy for foster carers;

• Tusla has developed a National Child Care Information System (NCCIS) which will ensure that every social work department in Ireland has a robust, secure information system to support the delivery of effective child protection and welfare services.

NCCIS will be fully operational by the end of next year.