Search Results for 'child protection services'

With three weeks remaining before Irish citizens vote on an amendment to the constitution, information on the proposed changes arrived in most letter boxes this week.

It is very clear from various reports in recent years that have highlighted the scale and seriousness of child abuse in Ireland, that there is a need to significantly improve Ireland’s child protection and welfare services. With this as our guiding principle, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has developed Draft National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children which set out the key attributes of an effective and safe child protection service. The setting of standards by HIQA and the monitoring of compliance with them are important levers in driving improvements in the effectiveness and safety of health and social care services for children and families.

The Fine Gael/Labour Coalition Government received an overall grade of C+ in the 2012 Report Card published this recently by the Children’s Rights Alliance, the best grade received by any government since the Report Card series first began in 2009, however, it lost marks for what has been described as “glaring violations of children’s’ rights”.

Every time, I hear a story involving a defenceless child getting injured I feel I must write about it. I don’t know whether you feel it more tangibly when you have children or whether everyone is feeling the same, but I can’t get the story of little three year old Sefora, who was beaten to death by her mother for wetting the bed, out of my mind.

City councillor Mary Leahy has called for the immediate establishment of an integrated children’s response team for child protection to be made available on a 24 hour seven day week basis.