665 at-risk children have to wait for social workers

More than 600 children who have been identified as at risk in the State are waiting to be allocated a social worker.

This means these 665 children, who have come to the attention of the community care services for reasons of neglect or physical, emotional or sexual abuse, are effectively being further abused by the system, says Mr Paul Gilligan, chief executive of the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC).

A series of questions about their childcare services was put to each of the health boards by The Irish Times.

The longest children's waiting list for social workers is in the Northern Area Health Board region, part of the Eastern Regional Health Authority. Some 247 "reported cases of child abuse . . . are awaiting further follow-up" there.

In the South Western Area Health Board, also part of the ERHA, 200 at-risk children await a social worker, while the Eastern Area has 84 reported cases of child abuse awaiting follow-up.

A spokeswoman for the ERHA stressed that while the ERHA had the longest waiting-lists, the authority dealt with "a third if not half of all referrals for social workers in the country".

In the North Eastern Health Board area some 127 children are waiting to see a social worker, while in the North Western Health Board area the number is seven.

The Western, Mid Western, Midlands, Southern and South Eastern health boards all say no children are waiting to be assigned a social worker.

A spokeswoman for the SEHB, which gave the most detailed information, said a child waited an average of three to six days after allocation before meeting their social worker.

Each board was asked the average case-load of social workers working with vulnerable children.

Although a number said it was impossible to estimate given that case-loads varied depending on the experience of the worker and the kind of cases, there was considerable variation between those that did answer.

The average case-load in the South East was 26, with 30-35 reported in the Midlands region.

The SEHB said the increase in the number of referrals for suspected/alleged child abuse over the past two years was a "real concern", adding that the absence of supervisory social staff for long periods meant child protection cases in particular could not be adequately addressed.

The Mid-Western Health Board said the number of abuse cases coming to its attention had grown significantly since 1990. It has 69 social work staff who dealt with 803 referrals of suspected abuse/neglect in 1998, up from 407 cases in 1990.

Two community care social workers in the ERHA area asked not to be identified. One, a man who has worked in the north inner city of Dublin for over 10 years, spoke of the frustrations of "impossibly huge" case-loads and a lack of back-up.

"It's hugely frustrating when you are there with a kid in crisis, and it's 7 or 8 at night and you literally have nowhere to offer them," he said. His female colleague called the system an "absolute disaster".

A lack of suitable care accommodation has meant that some vulnerable children are regularly accommodated in bed-and-breakfast accommodation.

Although the number of social workers has risen slightly or remained about static, most boards report a high turnover of staff.

Social workers are paid from £19,921 to £26,731, while qualified childcare workers are paid from £17,267 to £23,129.

Mr Owen Keenan, chief executive of Barnardos, said the waiting lists for social workers underlined the inadequacy of the conventional care system, which in turn was leading to the rising number of children ending up before the High Court, "so out of control they had to be locked up for their and society's benefit".