30 Foster carers in the Mid West were never vetted

Thirty foster carers in the mid-west had no evidence of garda vetting, according to the latest HIQA report.

It found there were three areas of major non-compliance – safeguarding and child protection, supervision and support and reviews of foster carers.

The latest HIQA report on foster carers in the Mid West found that out of eight standards inspected – three were majorly non-compliant.

With regard to safeguarding and child protection, inspectors found that there were 30 carers and who had no evidence of garda vetting on file and 116 household members over the age of 16 who weren’t vetted.

There were also issues with allegations of abuse or neglect not being managed correctly and in a timely fashion.

It also found major problems with supervision and support – 30 general and 6 relative foster carers had no social worker assigned to them, while the majority had not received the recommended formal supervision.

Finally it raised concerns that nearly a third of foster carers hadn’t had a review in over three years.

The Child and Family Agency Tusla has submitted an action plan on how it plans to deal with these concerns which has been accepted by HIQA.