20 May 2020
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Tusla – Child and Family Agency continues to provide key services across core areas that support children and families at risk during COVID-19 including
• Child protection;
• Children in care, and;
• Domestic, sexual and gender based violence services, in conjunction with our partners and funded agencies.
In recent weeks, Tusla staff around Cork have continued to provide essential frontline services that cannot be delivered remotely.
Speaking about Tusla’s response to COVID-19, Barry Murray, Tusla Area Manager for Cork said: “As an agency that works with children and families across Cork, our staff have been working tirelessly to ensure the continuity of supports and services, while also balancing the needs and best interests of the child with public health advice to keep children, families and frontline staff as safe as possible during the pandemic.
In Cork, we have been working with local partners including An Garda Síochána, Cork City and County Councils, HSE and local community and voluntary services to ensure that we are supporting some of the most vulnerable in our society at a time when they need it most.
In conjunction with local services, a wide range of innovative supports are being provided to children and families across the county, such as:
• Tusla Cork is providing additional funding to local services to ensure essential services can be maintained.
• Tusla Cork provided iPads to children and young people living in homeless accommodation so that they can access support services remotely such as, group activities, music lessons and interactive games.
• Providing online supports to children and families who we work with.
Our social work teams are working exceptionally hard to ensure that all concerns and referrals received about the safety or welfare of a child are screened and assessed in line with Children First, and responded to in line with normal practice. Anyone with a concern about a child’s safety or welfare should contact their local duty social work office. In the Cork area, the numbers are:
North Lee Team: 021 4927000
South Lee Team: 021 4923001
North Cork Team: 022 54150
West Cork Team: 028 40455
