Why have we failed so many children?

NOW-retired district court judge Dermot Simms certainly caused more than a few feathers to be ruffled in Tusla this week when details of a letter he wrote to ministers and a number of State agencies about children in care emerged.

Judge Simms expressed his ‘utmost concern’ about the system and warned the government that it could face legal challenges over its shortcomings.

Those ‘shortcomings’ in the child and family agency have been well flagged for many years, but it took a former member of the judiciary to get an appropriate response from the agency in question.

Tusla’s chief executive Kate Duggan readily admitted it was in ‘crisis’, repeating this again days later when the organisation published its annual report, which verified some of the judge’s fears.

The fact that Tusla serves some of the most vulnerable members of our society – many of them children – does not seem to have granted it any special treatment by successive administrations.

The phrase ‘unfit for purpose’ is one that has been levelled at it in recent years. But Judge Simms’ letter, published earlier this week by the Child Law Project, was forensic in its commentary and criticisms.

He said that up to 130 very vulnerable children could now be staying in unapproved accommodation including B&Bs, holiday centres, hotels and other locations which have not been properly vetted by the agency. This is because there is a real lack of appropriate placements for these children.

Last month, Dr Maria Corbett and Dr Carol Coulter of the Child Law Project published their findings into a decade of attendance at court proceedings involving children. They noted that up to the end of January 2023 there were 5,597 children in care – excluding separated children seeking international protection, such as those fleeing the war in the Ukraine. This week Tusla said the figure was 5,755.

The duo came to a similar conclusion to Judge Simms – that there is now a crisis in the placements of these children. Where an appropriate placement cannot be identified, ‘a local solution’ is often found by Tusla, eg, a placement in a hotel room. These placements are not covered by national standards and inspections and raise other governance and resource implications, they noted. 

It is horrifying to think that a young child who presents to the State, seeking its help and protection, could then be left to fend for themselves in an anonymous hotel environment.

‘Such placements are often not able to meet the needs of the child to education, access to therapeutic supports, social contact with peers (as many are a single child placement) or contact with family (as many can be located a great distance from the child’s home),’ the doctors’ report stated. ‘We have observed that in some instances a lack of a stable and appropriate placement has led to a deterioration of their mental health and to a risk of coming into contact with youth justice services,’ the report added. This is an horrendous situation for any child to find themselves in.

In a nutshell, society has failed these children. And not providing a safe and loving home for them when they seek help, is a further extension of this failure. A failure to find suitable foster families, securing and retaining social workers and other care staff, has been part of the problem in the system’s drift into this current crisis, a crisis which is increasing in magnitude. But one comment was missing from all the reports – from the judge’s, the doctors’ and even from Tusla ceo Kate Duggan, who spoke at length on Morning Ireland on Wednesday.

One of the most obvious and immediate solutions to the current crisis must surely be an increase in reliable and experienced foster carers. Yet retaining current carers, and finding new ones, is another factor that has seen little comment. 

One of the biggest problems with foster carers today is the lack of respect for their role. There was widespread shock in the sector - as evidenced by a lengthy Liveline debate last year – when yet another Budget was announced with no increase in the foster care allowance. Foster carers have seen no increase since 2009 while the cost-of-living has seen this stipend reduce in value year-on year. Carers are already dipping into their pockets for therapy, additonal education supports, holidays and much, much more.

A lot has been made of the fact that this year, a government budget surplus of €10bn is being forecast, increasing to €16.2bn next year.

There are many organisations and citizens vying to get to the top of the queue for any crumbs from that rich man’s table.

But what could be more deserving than a child who has been failed by the very system it hoped would provide it with protection?