A total of 29 young people in care or aftercare, or known to Tusla, died last year, an increase of six compared with 2022, the latest data show.
The annual report from the National Review Panel published on Thursday shows 14 boys or young men and 15 girls or young women died while in the care of the State or while known to child protection services.
The NRP is independent of Tusla and tasked with reviewing such deaths and also serious incidents involving this group that result in life-threatening or life-changing injury.
Of the 29 deaths last year, 18 were natural causes, four were suicides, five were as a result of accidents and two were “unknown” and may yet be verified at coroners’ inquests.
Of the 29, two were in State care at the time of their deaths – one was accidental and one was as a result of suicide.
“The remaining children or young people were living in their communities and there was a decrease of one in the number of deaths of young people using aftercare services,” says the report.
Looking at the ages of those who died, 13 were aged under one year old; seven were aged between 11 and 16; five were between 17 and 20 years old, and one, a girl, was aged between six and 10.
Of the 29 deaths, the NRP decided to conduct detailed review of 10. These included a 16 year-old who died from suicide, an infant that died from sudden infant death syndrome and two young children who were murdered. None was in care at the time.
This year’s report provides a lookback over 14 years, from 2010 to 2023, during which 315 children and young people died. While 139 (44 per cent) died of natural causes, almost one in four (70 children or 22 per cent) died as a result of suicide.
“Twenty-three of the young people who died from suicide were in care or aftercare,” says the report. “The age range was 12 years to 22, the most prevalent between 15 and 16 years with another high proportion between 17 and 18 years.”
Many had been referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) “and some had received a consistent service”.
“However, to be eligible for a CAMHS service, it was necessary for a young person to have a diagnosed treatable mental illness. Suicidal ideation alone does not meet the eligibility criteria. It appears to be the case that if a young person who self-harms is admitted to hospital, they may be referred to CAMHS but subsequently discharged from that service because they are not deemed to be mentally ill.
“Notwithstanding the variability of CAMHS services, some of which are more responsive than others, it is clear that referral of young people with suicidal ideation to CAMHS continues to be generally ineffective,” says the report.
It notes the average rate of notified deaths is 24 per year since 2010. “This is in a context where the number of referrals to the statutory social work services has risen from 29,277 in 2010 to 91,924 in 2023.
“Death from natural causes occurred in the majority of cases. This figure covers a wide range of conditions, including congenital and chronic diseases, childhood illnesses such as cancer and viral infections and sudden unexplained death in infancy.”
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