Out of hours services
21st July 2008
(In response to article in Irish Times re out of hours service in HSE)
The Irish Foster Care Association support the letter written by the AGSI to the Ombudsman for Children, Ms Emily Logan re a 24 hour social work service for children at risk and those in care. There are over 5,300 children in care in Ireland, over 4,700 of these are in foster care with no cover in place from 5pm on Friday afternoon to 9am Monday morning. The role of a Social Worker is pivotal in the whole fostering service from assessment right through to support and child protection. In fostering not only is the lack of an out of hours service causing problems but many foster carers are presently caring for children who do not have an allocated social worker due to the embargo the HSE had on recruitment.
The Irish Foster Care Association have been lobbying for many years for an out of hours social work service and fully support the Ombudsman for Children and the AGSI.