Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is a wholly independent body, under the aegis of the Department and is accountable to me as Minister through its Board.
This year, the Department is developing a new 3-year Performance Framework to replace the current Performance Framework which covers the period 2024-2026. This document provides the agency with policy guidance, direction, and prioritisation parameters for the preparation of its corporate plan in accordance with the Child and Family Agency Act 2013.
A range of robust processes and formal engagements between the Department and Tusla have been established to support the governance and oversight of Tusla.
Officials from the Department meet regularly with Tusla to monitor Tusla’s progress. The Department monitors and liaises with Tusla on an ongoing basis in relation to its policies, procedures, and guidelines across all their functions and service delivery areas. This ensures that issues or challenges are identified and addressed as quickly as possible. This is the fundamental basis for good governance and oversight and assists in ensuring that Tusla’s structures are robust, responsive, and capable of safeguarding every child in need. Details of various regular meetings are found below.
Along with senior Department officials, I schedule meetings with the Tusla Board on a regular basis over the course of the year to consider how Tusla is progressing with key areas in its annual business plan as well as speaking about important topical matters that arise. The Secretary General and the Child Policy and Tusla Governance Assistant Secretary General meet with the Tusla CEO and Tusla Director of Service Integration on a more frequent basis. Meetings between the Child Policy and Tusla Governance Division Assistant Secretary General, Heads of Departmental Units and the Tusla Executive Management Team generally take place every two months. In addition, there are regular governance and financial oversight meetings that take place as well as many other frequent bilateral meetings.
The role of Tusla’s Practice Assurance and Service Monitoring (PASM) Team is to provide objective assurance to the Tusla Chief Executive Officer, Tusla Executive Management Team, and the Tusla Board, as to the quality and safety of the Agency’s services in accordance with the requirements of national guidance, standards, and legislation. The PASM team are independent of the material and services which they analyse.
Using a collaborative approach with Tusla Operations, the PASM team is responsible for conducting an annual programme of practice audits and assurance reviews of Tusla services. The purpose of these reviews is to ensure that Tusla services are delivered in line with the requisite standards, regulations, and legislative requirements, and that service improvements are achieved in line with the recommendations of the Agency’s oversight bodies. The findings from these practice audits/assurance reviews are used to inform operational decision-making concerning quality improvement actions required, and to support and enable frontline service managers in achieving, verifying, and sustaining consistent service improvement.
In addition to its routine programme of practice audit and assurance reviews, the PASM team is requested from time to time to undertake internal case reviews. The purpose of these reviews is to examine a case where an issue of concern has been identified in relation to current or historic practice. The reviews undertaken are also intended to provide assurance in relation to current practice, governance, and oversight within the Agency and to identify whether specific service improvements are required. Where a review relates to historic practice which predates the Agency, the identified issues are cross checked against various current day audits and inspections to ensure in as much as possible that the same issues in the past are mitigated in the practice of today. The work of PASM in addition to other assurance mechanisms would be considered best practice by international standards.
The placement of children in alternative care is also governed by Regulations and Standards for Foster Care, Residential Care, and Special Care. These Regulations and Standards set out the detailed criteria against which Tusla is inspected, in its provision of alternative care services. The application of these Regulations and Standards promotes safe and high-quality practice in alternative care. Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service (ACIMS) manages the registration and inspection of non-statutory Children’s Residential Services, as well as non-statutory Foster Care agencies. The Department of Children receives Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection Monitoring inspection reports. Reports that are considered significantly non-compliant are reviewed to identify any practice issues which can be escalated where deemed necessary.
I am satisfied with the level of monitoring internally within Tusla regarding the provision of its services, including oversight of the valuable work that its employees undertake.
