Tusla – Child and Family Agency continues to provide key services during Level 5 restrictions which come into force from midnight on Wednesday.
As an essential front line service provider, we will be investing all of our energy to retain maximum service provision for children and families, particularly those for whom there are concerns or challenges.
As has been the case right throughout the pandemic, Tusla will continue to provide services across core areas that support children and families at risk including child protection, children in care, and domestic, sexual and gender based violence services, in conjunction with our partners and funded agencies. Home visits to children, and access visits for children in care, are considered essential and continue as normal where possible.
With schools open, Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) staff will continue to engage with families to provide advice, support and encouragement for students who need additional support. Registration and inspection for early years’ services by Tusla’s Children’s Services Regulation team will also continue throughout this period to ensure that our regulatory services can continue to assure quality of early years or school age services.
Speaking about the response, Bernard Gloster, CEO, Tusla said “We are now a number of months into the Covid 19 pandemic, and responding to children and families who need protection and support remains our key priority. The recognition of child protection and welfare as an essential service by Government has been vital in enabling our response.
During the initial period of the first lockdown we saw an emerging concern in respect of referrals to our services and that is something we will continue to monitor closely, however the plan for schools and early years services to remain open is particularly important here. We also saw many examples of how our services can work flexibly and where appropriate remotely and we have taken the best of that learning to inform our updated response.”
If anyone has a concern about a child, you can contact the local duty social work office where the child lives. Details are available on our website, www.tusla.ie
