A number of at-risk children housed in residential care centres were found to be in “inappropriate relationships”, including with adults, while some centres used staff without proper qualifications, inspections of those centres have revealed.

At one home, management had been alerted to the possibility of “inappropriate relationships” between children but never informed the children’s social workers, according to a report in the Irish Examiner.  

Families also repeatedly warned of their children’s “at-risk” behaviour but this was never addressed.

According to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act one social work team decided to send a child from one centre, which was later closed, back to their family as they believed the young person was at “no greater risk at home with their family of origin as when placed in the centre”. This was despite the fact that the child was removed from the family in the first place because of fears for the child’s safety.

Details of the reports come days after it was revealed that 13 minors known to HSE care services have died in the first four months Last year, 46 children known to care services died. The causes of death included suicide and accidents.

The 2011 reports on the country’s voluntary and private children’s homes reveal:

• In one mixed home, there was “evidence of a number of incidents where young people of different genders were in each other’s bedroom”;
• The inspection team found a “a lack of competently qualified and experienced staff to deliver the type of care necessary”. It also found that all the staff had not been through a formal interview process and the acting team leader did not have a social care qualification. Staff did not have training in Children First guidelines, first aid, or fire safety;
• In a facility in HSE South, one vulnerable girl was assaulted outside the home by a man. It later emerged there had been”inappropriate behaviour” between the teen and the man. However, staff never recorded this as a child protection breach and never told gardaí;
• There was a “near disclosure of abuse” by one child but this wasn’t fed by the manager to HSE child protection teams. Gardaí were also investigating a child protection incident involving two of the children listed as living at the home;
• Safeguarding, child protection, and planning for children and young people were significantly below par and there was a complete absence of placement plans. It also found a “lack of consistency” around staffing which was “not in the best interests of children who have already experienced loss, trauma, adversity, and a lack of primary carers and attachment figures in their lives”;
• Not all staff have Garda vetting, the necessary foreign police clearance, and the required three references.

Several of the reports also found that vulnerable teenagers in care were subject to “a lot of instability and confusion” due to high turnovers of staff.

One residential home had three different managers in one year — a feature which “can create an inconsistent and unpredictable culture” for teenagers who need stability, one report revealed.

In at least three of the reports, “inspectors found evidence of gaps in staff knowledge and practice in areas including child development and attachment, as well as a lack of an ability to empathise with young people and their personal circumstances”.

A spokesman for the HSE said: “Following all inspections of children’s residential centres, findings and recommendations of inspection reports are followed up in full. The HSE ensures that, post-inspection, there is ongoing monitoring of the implementation of action plans as a result of findings and recommendations.”  

The 2011 inspection, completed by the HSE’s Registration and Inspection Service, revealed that in one home, two of the four children were missing at the time of inspection — without explanation.

An “inappropriate relationship” between three of the young people had also been discovered at one point last year.

It then emerged that the centre management had been alerted to this possibility from a previous placement but had never told social workers.

It also emerged during interviews with social workers that “most of the social workers are highly dissatisfied that the placement is not meeting the needs of any of the young people placed in the centre”.

However only one social worker had removed their child from the home.

Ultimately, the inspection team decided, after management failed to remedy the enormous breaches in care, that the centre would not be re-registered.