Children younger than 12 living in State residential care homes

More than 30 residential group homes for children in State care are housing children younger than 12 with the permission of Tusla, the child and family agency, despite not being registered to care for children that young.

An internal audit carried out by Tusla shows at the end of last June, 39 children under 12 were living in residential group homes, where the providers had to apply for a special derogation to care for children that young. One in five of the children were younger than eight.

More than 5,800 children are in State care, with about 450 of those living in residential group homes, which house a small number of young people together.

In total, 31 residential centres run by private companies or voluntary providers had to apply to Tusla for derogations to take in children younger than 12, the audit found.

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In the first three months of 2022, one privately run group home was refused a derogation “as the centre did not have the required staffing levels”, the audit said.

A spokeswoman for Tusla said for some children younger than 12 in State care, a residential group home was the most appropriate setting for them to live in.

These young people were often extremely vulnerable, having suffered significant past trauma or abuse, which led to difficult behaviour, she said.

“Sometimes foster care placements break down due to difficult or dangerous behaviour as a direct result of the trauma experienced, and a different approach is necessary,” the spokeswoman said.

“Children under 12 who are in residential care have their case reviewed more frequently to ensure the placement is meeting their needs,” she said.

Internal Tusla audits carried out in the first half of 2022 were released to The Irish Times following a Freedom of Information Act request.

The audits also criticised a lack of accommodation for children taken into care in the Dublin northeast region, which it said led to young people being housed in “inappropriate settings” such as hostels and holiday homes.

The internal audit said putting children in this type of emergency accommodation “could not effectively address their wider needs” or manage identified risks.

The report said other young people were spending too long in short-term special care units, which were aimed at stabilising the most vulnerable children in care. This was due to a “continuing shortfall” in appropriate accommodation to move into afterwards, it said.

Residential group homes run by private companies faced difficulties recruiting and retaining experienced staff, “with high staff turnover an ongoing issue across a number of centres”, the audit said.

Separately, Tusla received nine reports of allegations of abuse or neglect being made against foster carers in the first half of 2022, it said.

The audit, meanwhile, raised concerns about “inconsistent” management of waiting lists for adopted people applying for birth records and tracing services to try to connect with relatives.

It said the “lack of a secure, fit-for-purpose ICT system” posed challenges to adoption and information tracing services, as well as “posing a potential data protection risk to the agency”.