TUSLA child and Family Agency holds a statutory responsibility for children in care.
They must provide timely and effective intervention for those that need it. The issue is
complicated by the variability of psychosocial difficulties experienced by children in
care. it is not clear on how best to measure if the support has been helpful or not,
making it difficult to develop an “evidence base” to guide decisions about what help to
offer when and to whom. TUSLA are piloting six area-based therapy teams (ABTT)
to develop individually planned care pathways for children in care. This study is
designed to help tailor services in the ABTTs to the needs of children in care by
gathering data that identifies the specific psychosocial needs of children entering care
in Ireland so that we can better adapt what help is offered to whom. Secondly, it will
develop the evidence base by identifying the most effective ways to measure if the
intervention has been helpful by testing this approach to outcome measurement. In
addition we will estimating the projected short, medium, and long term costs and
benefits for the state if the ABTT pilot sites are rolled out nationally. We will conduct
a mixture of qualitative (key stakeholder interviews involving service users and
service providers) and quantitative studies to gather data on screening and outcome
assessment to address these needs. In addition, we will assess the cost savings
associated with the ABTT model, both in the short and long term, by analysing its
economic impact and cost-effectiveness compared to potential alternatives.
The aim of this project is to design and test a screening and outcome measurement
framework for services working with children in care that is able to steer service
learning and improvement.
