AN INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG has found that there was ‘clear deficits in service provision’ in the cases of two children known to Tusla, including one where a teenage girl was raped by a male relative in whose care she was placed by the agency.

The perpetrator in question had known previous criminal convictions when she and her siblings were placed in his care. 

The incident happened after consideration had been given to returning the girl to her mother’s care, which was decided against after a risk assessment was carried out on the mother’s boyfriend. Following the rape the girl returned to her mother’s care. 

The male carer was later convicted by the courts. 

“His history should have raised serious doubts about his suitability to be approved as a relative carer,” a review into the case stated. 

The review of the case has today been published by the National Review Panel (NRP), which is an independent watchdog that reviews serious incidents or deaths involving children under the age of 18 who are in State Care, or have been known to Tusla’s services through engagement.

Another report was also published by the NRP today into a case where a 14-year-old girl died by suicide who was known to the Child and Family Agency. 

Dr Helen Buckley, the Chair of the NRP, said that both reviews found “evidence of good practice” in terms of Tusla workers’ actions, but there was also evidence of “clear deficits in service provision” in both cases.

The two children have been given false names in the NRP reviews – in order to protect their anonymity and that of their families.

The child who died by suicide in the community at the age of 14 is referred to as ‘Sophie’, and the child who suffered a “serious sexual assault” while in a Tusla appointed foster care placement while she was a teenager is called ‘Alannah’.

Buckley today said that there was evidence that Tusla staff acted quickly to support Sophie and her family, but that there was a disparity between how Child and Family Agency workers and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) workers viewed her mental state, which impeded the supports she was given overall.

Buckley said that recommendations on “inter-agency” work have been made on foot of this finding.

In terms of Alannah’s case, it was found that the agency was experiencing “staffing issues” which resulted in “poor supervision” and assessment services while she was in foster care.

Buckley noted that the NRP report found that the assault couldn’t have been “foreseen”, and that the incident took place a number of years ago, and so is “historic” in nature.

NRP reviewers noted that since then significant work has been undertaken by the Child and Family Agency in terms of assessing and supervising foster care placements.