MINISTER FOR Children Frances Fitzgerald had been “shocked” by aspects of the Health Service Executive’s child protection services, she said.
“It is still very challenging to provide the kind of child protection services we should be providing,” Ms Fitzgerald said at the release of One in Four’s 2010 annual report.
“I would have thought after 10 years of the Celtic Tiger our child protection services would be in a better place than they are at the moment, but the goal now is to ensure that they are,” she said.
One in Four director Maeve Lewis urged Ms Fitzgerald to provide clarity on what the forthcoming mandatory reporting legislation would contain.
Callers to One in Four were frightened about the legislation and what disclosure of abuse would mean for them, she said.
Ms Fitzgerald said there would be resource implications to the child protection legislation.
“We will have to examine very carefully the resources that are needed in this area.”
Change would not happen overnight but “that should not stop us doing the right thing for children”, she said.
She was “shocked at the audits” of the State’s child protection services “despite the best efforts by frontline staff”.
There was a lack of basic comprehensive data around the country, differences in waiting lists and lack of standardisation.
Work was “under way” to make improvements and the goal was a “world class child protection system”, she said. Ms Fitzgerald said she is expecting to receive several child protections reports in the coming weeks.
The annual report raised concerns about the HSE’s failure to investigate sexual abuse cases it had raised.
One in Four made reporting of concerns to the HSE mandatory last year thus increasing cases.
Ms Lewis estimated that 10 per cent of allegations it reported to the HSE had been investigated. “Historical allegations tend to go to the bottom of the pile,” she said.
“Just because somebody was abused 10 or 20 years ago it does not mean that offender is still not out there abusing children. It is vital historic allegations are taken just as seriously as an allegation more recently.” she said.
The minister said child protection was a priority for Government, including moving legislation on mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect and refining the wording for a Children’s Referendum.
“I am pointing out what the State is asking various organisations to do and then it is up to the organisations to follow the legislation as they are able,” she said.
She had spoken to Gordon Jeyes, the new national director of Children and Family Services, and was happy a solution to dealing with historic cases could come about, she said.
The organisation dealt with 931 adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse last year.
The organisation had developed a model working with victim, families and offender which had “great potential” as national model. She was shocked at the lack of basic comprehensive data around the country.
A “big change” had been the increase in the number of clients abused by family members, now making up half of the organisation’s clients.
Sexual abuse in families was “like a bombshell” , Ms Lewis said. It began a support group for wives of sex offenders this year who had found “ways to minimise and explain what happened rather than face reality of victimisation of the child”.
The report also criticised the way the criminal justice system deals with abuse victims. Ms Lewis described court as a “savage arena” for victims.
Dealing with the criminal justice system was “traumatising, painful, deeply distressing” and not good enough, she said.