Number of pupils missing school soars

School absenteeism cases on Tusla’s national waiting list have surged to the highest recorded level due to the rising number of homeless children, insufficient numbers of staff, and increasingly complex cases such as students with mental health issues and special needs.

Number of pupils missing school soars

School absenteeism cases on Tusla’s national waiting list have surged to the highest recorded level due to the rising number of homeless children, insufficient numbers of staff, and increasingly complex cases such as students with mental health issues and special needs.

Figures contained in the child and family agency’s most recently published monthly report show that in April, Tusla’s Educational Welfare Service (EWS) had 2,636 referrals on its waiting list. The figure has been climbing steadily since last October and the comparable figure from April 2018 was 1,670 cases.

In addition to the all-time high number of referrals on its waiting list last April, the number of cases closed that month — 275 — was the lowest monthly tally so far this year. Yet the number of referrals screened that month was amongst the highest recorded in 2019.

Tusla said the EWS — which issues School Attendance Notices (SANs) to parents in relation to excessive absenteeism by children from school, and which can and does bring prosecutions to court — only started recording the number of cases on a national waiting list in September 2017, and the figure for April 2019 is the highest recorded since.

“There are a number of reasons for the growing waiting list including staffing, complexity of cases and rising referrals,” said a spokesperson for Tusla.

Overall, staffing at the EWS, while increasing, “is still below what is required to meet service demand”.

Tusla also referred to the complexity of cases as a contributory factor to the record waiting list, including those of homeless children. The most recent government figures showed 3,749 children homeless last May.

The Tusla spokesperson said: “We now deal with much more complex needs related to students with special education needs, students with anxiety/mental health needs, students whose families are homeless, students from migrant and refugee families, as well as working with families experiencing multiple difficulties.

Cases often take longer to progress, school places are not always available to meet needs thus elongating the time an EWO [Educational Welfare Officers] needs to work with a family.

“Referral numbers are increasing and we anticipate that as we increase our staffing cohort, referrals will continue to rise as we will have more visibility in schools and communities.

“EWS is constantly reviewing our practice model and new practice approaches are being tested to try and respond more quickly to the growing waiting lists.”

Tusla said the case closure rate is dependent on successful resolution of cases and is dependent on acquiring school places for students who are out of school, accessing appropriate supports if students are experiencing mental health issues, as well as other areas.

In relation to Educational Welfare Officers, the spokesperson said that while the staff numbers are increasing, they are still well below the levels of such staff in other countries.

“There has been a steady increase in the number of EWOs since the service came into Tusla,” said the spokesperson. “We had just over 60 EWOs in 2014 when the service transferred into Tusla. Staff numbers had increased to 89 EWOs at end of 2018, and is increasing further in 2019 when we should have 100 EWOs by the year-end.

Currently, the ratio of EWO to students in Ireland stands at 10,300:1. This compares very unfavourably to our neighbours in the UK and Northern Ireland, where the ratio is closer to 3,000:1.

The spokesperson said Tusla and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs are aware of the issues and are addressing it through increased staffing.

“While we have 89 full-time posts, the reality is that, due to serious illnesses, maternity leave, etc, we are operating closer to 80 posts at any one time,” the spokesperson said.

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