Child protection services in Ireland are viewed as "powerful, unsympathetic and intimidating", according to a report published today.
Service users' perceptions of the Irish Child Protection Systemby Dr Helen Buckley was published along with Analysis of submissions made on National Review of Compliance with Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children.
The two documents were published as part of the national review of compliance with child protection guidelines.
The Children First guidelines were established in 1999 to assist people in identifying and reporting child abuse and to improve professional practice in both statutory and voluntary agencies and organisations that provide services for children and families.
The review of the child protection guidelines was ordered by the then Minister for Children Brian Lenihan in the wake of the Ferns report into child sexual abuse by a number of Catholic priests.
Speaking at the launch of the review today, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Barry Andrews, said: "The key finding of the National review of compliance with Children First conducted by my Office is that, in general, difficulties and variations on implementation of the guidelines arise as a result of local variation and infrastructural issues, rather than from fundamental difficulties with the guidelines themselves.”
“At this stage, it is my view that the best way forward is a renewed focus on the provision of a more effective child welfare and protection system, through improved implementation of the existing guidelines, training, education and good recruitment procedures,” he said.
Commenting on her findings that child protection services are viewed negatively by those who use them, Dr Helen Buckley said this was largely due to preconceived ideas and attitudes as well as conflicting views on what constituted adequate parenting.
“Service users held some misinformed views of the powers of social workers to remove their children from them; an overarching fear experienced by the majority of those reported to the system,” she said.
"In a number of cases, negative perceptions were modified once service users engaged with the services. However, a number of interviewees were very dissatisfied with the way that mistaken or malicious reports about them were handled."
Health Service Executive childcare specialist Aidan Waterstone said: "We are currently in the process of re-focusing childcare services from an emphasis on risk to an emphasis on need. The information in the three research documents is very informative and useful."
Regarding the inconsistencies in reporting arrangements across the country, Mr Waterstone said the HSE was "actively engaged in a process of standardisation".
"We are striving to ensure that we achieve high standards on a consistent basis. The establishment of the HSE as a single national health service provided us with the opportunity to achieve this."
He welcomed the finding of the reports that the "majority of respondents reported that the guidelines are working well, or well 'to some extent'.
"It is often inevitable that child protection services by their nature are viewed as an unwelcome intrusion into the life of many families. It is therefore noteworthy that four out of ten of the respondents in the research sought out contact with these services, and many had positive things to report about the services they subsequently received."
The ISPCC called on the Government to place the guidelines on a statutory footing and to act to ensure 24-hour support services are available to vulnerable children.
“Serious questions need to be asked when the intervention and support received by vulnerable children who are at risk or are victims of abuse is dependent on issues such as where they are living and infrastructure,” said Mary Nicholson, ISPCC advocacy and communications manager.
In a statement, Mr Andrews said the issue of putting the guidelines on a statutory footing was being kept “under review”.
“The issue of putting Children First Guidelines on a statutory basis is kept under constant review but at this time, it is the Government’s belief that child protection services are best served by maintaining the current approach,’ he said.
However, Fine Gael spokesman on children Alan Shatter accused the Minister of “self-congratulation” saying child protection services are “chaotic, uncoordinated and grossly inadequate”.
“It is not good enough that the Minister for Children today simply tells us that the best way forward ‘is a renewed focus on the provision of a more effective child welfare and protection system,’” he said.
“Mr Andrews should explain to us the reason for the failure of the Government over a 10 year period to ensure proper and coordinated application of the Children First Guidelines and provision of essential training to relevant personnel in all relevant State agencies.”