Ireland: At Least 33 Foster Care Abuse Claims “Have Substance” UPDATED

“At least 33 allegations of abuse by foster carers to children in their care were found to have substance by the Child and Family Agency over a 15-month period.

Figures provided by Tusla show 24 allegations of abuse made against foster carers around the country last year were “found to have substance”, while in the first quarter of this year there were another nine allegations — including three in the Cork area alone.

The figures show while none of the allegations were of a sexual nature, 11 across the 15-month period involved physical abuse.

In seven cases between the beginning of last year and the end of last March, the allegations involved neglect, including four cases in the first quarter of this year. Other cases involved welfare concerns, in six instances, and another six cases of emotional abuse.

Tusla was unable to state what course of action had followed in each case regarding whether or not the foster carers in question had children removed from their care, or whether any faced garda investigation.

The figures are likely to cause further disquiet following the high-profile ‘Grace’ case, in which it emerged a woman with intellectual disabilities remained for 13 years in a foster home where it is alleged she was subjected to torture, sexual abuse, and physical neglect.

In another recent high- profile case, in which a father was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the rape and abuse of his son, the court heard that when the boy was removed from his parents’ care, he was subsequently abused again while in foster care.

The region with the single highest number of substantiated allegations of abuse by foster carers across the 15-month period was in the Mid-West, where nine allegations were made last year.

No figure is provided for the first quarter of this year for that area, during which time three allegations were substantiated in Cork — two involving physical abuse and one of emotional abuse — and another three were made in Waterford/Wexford, with all three involving allegations of neglect.

Last year also saw three substantiated allegations in Mayo, three in Dublin North, and three in Louth/Meath.

Some areas had no substantiated allegations across the 15-month timeframe, including Dublin South East/Wicklow, Dublin South West/Kildare/West Wicklow, Dublin City North, and Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan.

Figures from Tusla also show the level of non-pay expenditure in the foster sector increased between 2014 and 2015.

In 2015 statutory foster care allowances topped €100m, along with more than €16m in after-care allowances and just shy of €3m in other care allowances, bringing the total to almost €120m.

Under independent placement provision €66m was spent on residential provision, up almost €6m, with €18m spent on foster care provision and €4.5m on unaccompanied minors — the one figure that decreased between 2014 and 2015.

The Irish Foster Carers Association stressed that around 95% of the more than 6,000 children in care are in foster care and are happy in their placements.

However, Irish Foster Carers Association chief executive Catherine Bond said not every foster carer had a linked social worker, in the same way that not every child in care had an allocated social worker.

“If the system was perfect then the checks and balances would be there,” Ms Bond said.

Ms Bond said the safety of children was paramount but said carers also needed training and support so they could keep themselves safe and she did not believe that data was being collated regarding instances in which foster carers might receive injuries.”

At least 33 foster care abuse claims ‘have substance’[Irish Examiner 11/14/16 by Noel Baker]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “The Taoiseach says the government will act on a damning report which has identified “systemic flaws in management” in how the cases of the abuse of three children while in foster care were handled by the HSE and Tusla.

Leo Varadkar said he hasn’t seen the unpublished report yet and doesn’t want to say anything that might re-traumatise those involved in what he described as “a deeply disturbing case”.

But he said the government will study in detail and act on the report once it’s published.

“We should never forget that there are individuals, people who are very damaged by all of this, who are still hurting today and we need to make sure that in our comments we don’t do anything that might re-traumatise them,” he said.

“The report hasn’t been published yet. I haven’t seen it myself but it will be published in the next couple of weeks and we will act on it.

I don’t want to prejudice what’s in the report having not seen what’s in it. It’s only a leak at this stage.
“But we have made some very significant strides when it comes to child protection in recent years – in particular, the fact that reporting of child abuse is now mandatory, and that was only introduced in the last two years. But there is definitely more to be done.

“As I say, when we have this report it will be studied in detail and the government will act on it.”

He was speaking in Cork this morning in the wake of revelations by RTE Investigates earlier of the details of the report into the handling by both the Health Service Executive and the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, of the cases of abuse of children placed in a foster home in Galway.

The report lists a catalogue of failures, which saw three children suffer “grave and heinous sexual abuse” while in the care of the State.

Details of the case were first revealed by RTÉ Investigates in April 2016.

A girl placed in the foster home for monthly respite care told her biological mother that she had been sexually abused by a then-teenage son of the foster family.

She also reported that a second girl who had been living with the foster family for over a decade had also been raped by the same son.

The girl’s allegation was assessed by the HSE to be “credible” but at the time, the second girl did not disclose any abuse.

Gardaí sent a file to the DPP but no prosecution followed. The second girl and another foster child, a boy, continued to live with the family.

However, in 2011, the second girl came forward and said she too had been raped, prompting a new garda probe which identified a third victim, another female foster child, who also was regularly raped.

Last year, Keith Burke was found guilty and jailed for the rape and buggery of the three foster girls between 2003 and 2007 when all three were aged under 10.

The report into the HSE and Tusla handling of the cases, which was delayed pending the completion of those criminal proceedings, points to “serious errors of judgement”, “flawed assessment and decision-making” and a “lack of management oversight” at critical points during the Social Work Department’s involvement with the foster family.

It also found that no attempt was made to assess the risk Keith Burke posed to other children in the community.

Meanwhile, Tusla says it accepts the findings of the National Review Panel into a foster home abuse case in Galway.

It says a number of important steps are being taken prior to the publication of the report, including engagements with those affected, to ensure their wellbeing and to limit any adverse effects this situation may have on them.

The Child and Family Agency says the report reflects a certain point in time, prior to the establishment of Tusla, which has resulted in an improvement in standards, staffing and services.”

 

Taoiseach pledges to act on foster care abuse report

[Irish Examiner 5/23/19 by Eoin English]