Response to child abuse claims criticised

The ombudsman for children has expressed concern that health authorities may not be responding adequately to reports of child abuse, following a series of complaints to her office.

Sixty-one child protection complaints - 13 per cent - have been referred to her office since it opened in April 2004. The complaints highlight a range of issues such as delays in investigating complaints, difficulties in accessing services, regional inconsistencies in responding to allegations, a lack of adequate support after disclosures of abuse are made and a general lack of awareness of child protection services.

Details of complaints to the ombudsman for children, Emily Logan, are contained in a submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children.

In the submission, Ms Logan calls for a comprehensive evaluation of child protection services by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and a nationwide publicity and awareness campaign on all forms of child abuse.

"The lack of clarity and understanding about what will happen to a child or their family if they disclose abuse is preventing children and young people from reporting," Ms Logan said.

"This needs to be tackled with the participation of children and young people so the most vulnerable might be reached."

Of the 61 complaints which related to 94 children, most concerned abuse by immediate or extended family members (29), members of the local community (22) and children in the care of the State (8).

The substance of the complaints involved the response of authorities to physical and sexual abuse, neglect or a combination of forms of abuse.

The main area of concern highlighted by complainants was the lack of support for children and young people after disclosures of abuse were made.

The submission noted that all complainants noted a delay in the provision of psychological and therapeutic support to a child or young person.

"When support was provided, it was often in a sporadic fashion and co-ordination between different services was poor," the submission says. "Many complainants reported a lack of family support services."

Such a lack of support resulted in some cases in children needing long-term psychiatric treatment, according to complainants. They experienced delays in the initial response to their reports, ranging from several days to a number of weeks. There were further delays of up to several months before supports were put in place for the child.

"Complainants felt the delay post-disclosure left the child unprotected as he/she remained in the abusive situation without support and with the fear of 'having told'," the submission said.