Tusla has downgraded supports for migrant children who arrive alone, says social care worker

Tusla, the child and family agency, has effectively downgraded support given to children seeking asylum who arrive in Ireland alone, a social care worker for the agency has said.

For more than a year, many child asylum seekers have come under Tusla’s care through orders made under Section 5 of the Childcare Act, they said.

This section designates these child asylum seekers as homeless, and means they have fewer entitlements to care, said the staffer, who asked for anonymity for fear of their job.

Before that, they were brought into care under Section 4 of the Act, which doesn’t classify children as homeless.

“They have created a new category of young people in care,” said the social care worker, affecting their entitlement to a social worker and to support once they turn 18 years old.

A spokesperson for Tusla said that ensuring that every child is getting appropriate care is its priority. There has been a major uptick in the number of unaccompanied children arriving in Ireland, they said.

As of 23 June, there were 125 separated child asylum seekers in special emergency shelters, the spokesperson said.

Between July 2023 and April 2024, 135 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in Ireland, according to Eurostat figures.

“Under section 5 a child is not ‘in care’ but is cared for by Tusla in the same manner as if they were in care,” said the spokesperson for Tusla.

The change

The social care worker said that under Section 5 care orders, child asylum seekers are placed into emergency homeless shelters for children, and their entitlement to support is narrowed.

These homeless shelters for children are known as “Special Emergency Accommodations”.

The designation as homeless means children don’t get to have social workers, and narrows the likelihood of receiving aftercare support once they turn 18, they said.

Rather than a social worker, “they are assigned to a caseworker linked to a social worker”, said the staffer.

A social worker used to be their legal guardian but not anymore, they said. “It has created a two-tier system in an already broken system.”

A spokesperson for Tusla also said that children taken into care under Section 5 of the Act can have a “Tusla link worker” and “not necessarily a social worker”.

The link worker can be a social care worker, a family support practitioner or a youth advocacy programme worker, they said.

“All unaccompanied minors have a placement plan/care plan in place to ensure that their care, education, health, and any other specific needs are provided for,” the spokesperson said.

Tusla’s aftercare support for young people who qualify for it includes an allowance of €300 per week.

Young people need to spend 12 months under Tusla’s care to be entitled to aftercare support when they turn 18, said the Tusla spokesperson.

Some of the time spent as homeless under Section 5 care orders can count but can’t make up all the 12 months needed to meet the condition, they said.

“For any young person who does not meet the criteria, a drop-in support service is available to provide advice, support and advocacy,” the spokesperson said.

The social care worker said unaccompanied migrant children who are declared homeless may or may not end up in permanent residential care.

They said that being “well-behaved” might help but there’s no guarantee. “It’s all quite inconsistent,” they said.

Terry Dignan, a spokesperson for the Children’s Residential and Aftercare Voluntary Association (CRAVA), said all children in care, including unaccompanied child asylum seekers, should have equal entitlements, even if they’ve been declared homeless under Section 5 of the Childcare Act.

“We believe it’s ethically and morally wrong for the state to discriminate against any child or cohort of children for any reason,” he said.

Kids’ circumstances can be different, Dignan said, but their pathway to care and support shouldn’t. “Every child should be treated equally within a single care system,” he said.

He said the government must urgently increase funding for Tusla in the next budget to address issues that are impacting child asylum seekers who are alone, too.