SOME 650 children in State care have no dedicated social worker as a result of staff shortages in child protection teams.
Social workers and child protection campaigners say the shortages are placing vulnerable children at risk, as they are missing out on proper needs assessments and foster families are not being properly vetted.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed to The Irish Times that 13 per cent of children in foster care have no dedicated social worker, in breach of national standards for foster care.
However, it stressed that the vast majority of children were allocated a social worker. Those who do not have one are covered by a "duty social work system". This can involve keeping in contact with foster families by phone calls or home visits.
A HSE spokesman said: "While still seeking to meet the objective of an assigned social worker for every foster family, the latter programme is being examined for wider application in local health offices where complete allocation of social workers to every foster family is not always possible.
"It should also be stressed that all cases are subject to ongoing review and, where appropriate, the level and nature of the care being received by the foster carers/children may be changed."
The Irish Association of Social Workers said the failure of health authorities to fill vacant social work posts and recruit new social workers was putting vulnerable children at risk. Spokesman Declan Coogan said: "It seems that the protection of children is at the bottom of the list of priorities of those who make decisions about funding but are remote from the consequences of these decisions."
He said many social workers in child protection services experience stress, burn-out and exhaustion as they struggle to respond to an increasing workload with inadequate resources.
The figures relating to shortages of social workers follow a HSE review of care standards for the 4,500 children in foster care after an independent report raised serious concerns over gaps in the system.
A Social Services Inspectorate study of HSE fostering services in the northeast found one-third of children did not have a dedicated social worker. Inspectors said they were "extremely concerned" because this meant standards for the assessment of children's needs and care planning for young people in foster care could not be met. They raised concerns about the child protection system, pertaining to the way disclosures made by children were assessed and the frequency of social work visits.
Despite these shortcomings, inspectors said they found evidence of good practice in many areas and were impressed by the care the children were receiving. Many of the children felt well-cared-for and were happy in their placements.
