Tusla’s structure and organization ‘is not good’, warns its CEO

The structure and organization of the Tusla child welfare agency “is not good,” warned its CEO.

Appearing at the Oireachtas Children’s Committee, Bernard Gloster expressed serious concerns about the pace of attempts to reform the organization.

He said the agency’s reform in the areas of practice, culture and structure were “critical.”

Mr. Gloster said: “I am aware that the agency board is seriously concerned about the rate of progress regarding the change in governance that we have decided upon and that requires approval outside of the agency.

“This change is critical to addressing various deficits, including performance and accountability.

“The current structure and organization of the agency is, to put it simply, not good. And as long as it remains, many problems will continue to occur and require an overly centralized reactive response. “

‘Serious problems’

Tusla’s CEO outlined the areas where “serious problems and challenges arise,” including what he described as “meeting the high standard set in regulations” by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).

Providing timely service to all children under Tusla’s mandate was also identified as an issue, as was compliance with GDPR regulations.

Gloster said the Tusla board had raised these concerns with the Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, and is awaiting a positive decision.

He was appointed CEO of Tusla in September 2019 and vowed to restore public trust in the often controversial service.

On the impact of Covid-19 on Tusla’s services, Mr. Gloster expressed concern about a significant reduction in referrals to the child welfare system.

We saw cases of referrals that went from an average of 1,500 per week to 960

He said: “To give members some indication of concern, we saw instances of referrals that went from an average of 1,500 per week to 960.”

He added: “The impact was much more significant and severe in the first phase of the blockade. This was because schools were closed and many other services did not attend to children regularly.

“All of that combined led to the very substantial concern I spoke about, reflected in the significant reduction from our normal referrals by nearly 550 per week for several weeks.”

Mr. Gloster said pending cases requiring priority response have since been addressed.

Domestic violence

An increase in incidents of domestic violence during the pandemic also caused problems for Tusla.

Due to public health advice on social distancing and limitations on the number of people congregating in one place, the provision of accommodation for victims of domestic violence suffered.

Of the 139 shelters initially available, 36 were forced to close during the pandemic.

But the agency has funded an additional 25 off-site units and an additional 15 safe homes, which means there are now 143 open lodging sites.

However, Kate Duggan, national director of service and integration at Tusla, says the agency still has concerns about the situation.

She said: “The capacity at the moment is for 143 units, and 106 of them are currently occupied. We certainly share the concern regarding access, particularly in certain parts of the country, which is a problem ”.