Practices at a number of children's residential centres in the North Eastern Health Board area have been criticised by inspectors.
One of the centres had taken on temporary staff without getting written Garda clearance, another kept its front door and fire escape locked, which the inspectors said was unacceptable and could impede exit in an emergency, and care plans, if drawn up, did not always meet an acceptable standard.
The inspections on the centres - Westcourt, Valhalla, 104 and Ti na nOg, all located in Drogheda - were carried out by the Irish Social Services Inspectorate in January. Their findings have been released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Inspectors were concerned that in one incident, a child was sent unaccompanied in a taxi to the Valhalla centre in December to be admitted. "Inspectors were informed that the taxi driver who transported him to Valhalla knew the young person well and had been briefed about the situation. Inspectors consider it inappropriate that the affairs of a young person in the board's care were discussed with a member of the general public and that the young person was not accompanied on his journey by either his social worker or a staff member from Valhalla." There was a separate toilet for staff in the centre which was kept locked. Inspectors were informed that in the past young people left bathrooms in such a state as to render them unusable to staff. "If the toilet used by the young people is not clean enough for members of staff to use, then it is not clean enough for the young people to use either," the report said.
All units were criticised for using order books rather than petty cash to buy food and clothing. "These are a source of acute embarrassment to the young people and limit their choice of clothes. This is an unacceptable practice and must cease immediately."
The inspection on Westcourt found there were children who had been waiting years for therapeutic services. "When specialist services are provided, examples being speech therapy and psychological services, sessions lasted only a matter of weeks. None of these services has been available to children on a continuous basis or for long enough for any meaningful piece of work to be completed with any child referred".
The files of three temporary staff at the 104 high-support unit were randomly checked and two were found to have started work without written Garda clearance. The health board said clearance would have been sought by phone before they started but inspectors saw this as unacceptable.
In all cases, however, inspectors found a positive atmosphere in the centres, children were well cared for and staff were praised for their work with difficult children in particular.
A spokeswoman for the North Eastern Health Board said the board was "satisfied generally with the tenor" of the reports and stressed that the issues were being addressed.