The participation of children and young people in care: insights from an analysis of national inspection reports in the Republic of Ireland:
The Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA) is the national inspectorate for social care in Ireland. HIQA monitors Tusla, Ireland’s child and family agency, for compliance with national children’s standards, including standards on children and young people’s participation rights. This paper outlines findings of a secondary analysis of data in relation to participation standards in HIQA foster care, residential care and special care inspection reports over a two-year period from 2013 to 2015.
Recorded 27th November 2018
Contributors
Author: Bernadine Brady, Danielle Kennan, Cormac Forkan, Edel Tierney, Rebecca Jackson & Rowan Holloway
Publisher: Child Care in Practice Volume 25, 2019 – Issue 1
Date: 2018
Geographic Coverage: Ireland
Type of Resource: Report
Sector/setting: Care
Vulnerable groups: Children, Young People
Developed with children and young people? No
Type of participation: N/A
Availability: Restricted Access
Keywords: Children Care, Participation
Introduction
The thematic analysis explores the degree to which the reports found that children in care are provided with the opportunity to influence decisions in relation to their everyday lives, to participate in child in care reviews, receive information, avail of advocacy services and have access to a complaints mechanism. While there is much evidence of good practice across all sectors, some notable differences between the realisation of participation standards in residential care and foster care were found. This baseline analysis was undertaken prior to the implementation of a comprehensive participation strategy by Tusla across the organisation and highlights areas in which practice can be improved or mainstreamed in this work programme.