Last week, a court judgement by District Court judge Conor Fottrell regarding the failure by Tusla — the child and family agency — to have a social worker allocated to around 250 children in State care in the Greater Dublin area, contrary to court orders and good practice, was published.
It attracted widespread attention from various quarters, including from the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW).
Judge Fottrell described Tusla’s failures to assign a social worker in those cases as “…shocking and appalling behaviour…” and “…an extraordinary failure…” which “…cannot continue and will not be tolerated” by the court.
The IASW, representing the social work profession in Ireland, has gone on record to express deep concern at the issues highlighted by Judge Fottrell.
Social workers provide vital services across a range of settings, including in hospital and community medical contexts, mental health, disability, child protection and welfare, ageing, addiction, and criminal justice, among others.
Across those settings, social workers bear statutory and mandatory safeguarding and other responsibilities
As registered professionals, social workers are also subject to rigorous ethical and practice standards set down and monitored by Coru — the Government’s health and social care regulatory, and registration body.
As Judge Fottrell pointed out, the responsibilities of social workers in Tusla specifically include “…responsibility to coordinate the care of the child [in care] to include arranging care plans and visiting children in the foster home at regular intervals…” as well as reporting back to the court as and when required.
Staff shortages
Tusla has apologised to the court, insisting that its failings were not the result of any active decision not to re-enter cases in court where a child was left without an allocated social worker, but rather because it was becoming increasingly difficult to have a social worker allocated in all cases due to staff shortages. That is indeed the nub of the problem at the core of this scandal.
The shortage of social workers is evident across all organisations that employ social workers, including Tusla, and is manifested more severely in certain parts of the country — including Dublin.
The resulting issues, in terms of negative impact on frontline services, are also more severe and completely unacceptable when those affected are children who have been identified as requiring placement in State care
Removing a child from a parent and placing them in State care is “one of the most onerous and serious decisions a District Court judge can make”, as we are reminded by Judge Fottrell.
The national shortage of social workers has been known and acknowledged for years, if not decades.
Some commentators rightly point out that the problems associated with shortages in the profession are as much about retention as recruitment.
However, people move from one employer to another, or leave the profession (temporarily or permanently) for a range of reasons. These include dissatisfaction with terms and conditions, changing life-course needs and work preferences, a wish to take time out (eg for travel or advanced study), frustrations with work and organisational demands, or financial costs, among others.
Many of these factors are not unusual in any profession, although we do need more research to understand what is impacting social work retention so we can take more appropriate steps to improve retention rates in Ireland.
Insufficient government action
For a long time, however, we do know for sure that we are not producing enough social work graduates in Ireland to begin with, to replace those retiring and to satisfy increasing service demands.
For many years, these challenges have attracted much hand wringing but insufficient government action.
Part of the problem has been that there has been no single government department with overall strategic responsibility for social work in Ireland
Unlike other professions, social workers work across a wide range of agencies, under the remit of a number of government ministers and their departments.
In terms of simple numbers, up to now, around 250 social workers graduated from universities in Ireland annually. It has been widely acknowledged that we need to be graduating at least twice as many (500) social workers in Ireland annually.
The current programme for government commits to double the number of college places for social work. That commitment needs to be actioned as a matter of urgency.
There is also a need to attract a more diverse range of people into social work. The financial challenges of completing social work training must be addressed. In particular, an allowance should be paid to those undertaking the mandatory 14-week social work practice placements.
The additional financial burden of these placements leads to sometimes unbearable financial strain on students, in addition to their hefty college fees (up to around €10,000 per annum)
In the absence of governmental strategic leadership, the IASW has joined with employer, university, and trade union partners, to identify what needs to be done to increase numbers of social workers, to coordinate retention measures, and make other necessary improvements. That followed the publication by IASW of a report on training, recruitment, and retention in social work, in 2022.
Potential game-changer
The apprenticeship in social work, launched last year, is a real potential game-changer in this regard. The initiative is part of the Government’s expansion of the apprenticeship model of education and training into professions not previously associated with apprenticeships, including social work.
The first iteration of the social work apprenticeship saw 47 additional students join the masters in social work programme in University College Cork last September.
The apprenticeship model enables participants to "earn while they learn" on their progression towards becoming fully qualified and registered social workers.
The apprenticeship cohort of learners is in addition to those undertaking the more "traditional" pathways into university-based social work programmes, and is intended to provide extra numbers in the profession as well as access to a more diverse intake of people from a wider range of background who might otherwise not have been able to access or afford to take up university places.
It is planned to expand the apprenticeship in social work to more universities and employers as a priority
In the aftermath of the matters brought to public attention by Judge Fottrell, it is clear that Tusla must complete their ongoing investigations regarding children in care who do not have an allocated social worker and complete any other follow-up required, to address existing failings, and ensure that all children in State care have an allocated social worker.
There is an old saying that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the next best time is right now. Similarly, while we can bemoan the fact that steps were not taken years ago to increase the number of social workers, right now is the next best time if we are to get social work services right for the future and so we can truly cherish all our children equally.
Vivian Geiran is adjunct assistant professor, TCD School of Social Work and Social Policy, and chairman of the Irish Association of Social Workers.
