Staffing remains the biggest issue for Tusla's model of care in Wexford - according to findings

Staffing remains the biggest issue for foster care in the Wexford and Waterford area.

The Health Information and Quality Authority today published an inspection report on Tusla’s foster care service in the region. The inspection found that the service had significant staffing deficits which affected Tusla's model of care. HIQA conducted an inspection of the Waterford/Wexford foster care service between 25 and 28 July 2023 to assess eight of the National Standards for Foster Care (2003). Of the eight standards assessed, four were found to be substantially compliant and four were not compliant. The inspection found that the service had significant staffing deficits and this impacted on its ability to meet the national standards and regulations. Inspectors found that the assessment of children’s needs, matching of children in care, governance of the foster care service and quality assurance systems all required improvement. Staffing deficits impacted on the implementation of Tusla’s model of care in the assessment of children’s needs as not all assessments were informed by the voice of the child. The governance and oversight of services provided to children and foster carers remained inadequate and required significant improvement. Inspectors found that Tusla did not have effective interim measures in place to address the risks found on inspection that had already been identified by the service. HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under Section 69 of the Child Care Act 1991, as amended by Section 26 of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011, to inspect foster care services provided by Tusla and to report on its findings to the Minister, and to inspect services taking care of a child on behalf of Tusla, including non-statutory providers of foster care. HIQA monitors foster care services against the 2003 National Standards for Foster Care. At the time of the inspection the service area did not have sufficient foster carers to meet the demand. Despite these issues, there was good practice in identifying suitable foster carers for children in care and of interagency working between service areas with foster carers.