Regulations and Standards
Regulations
Regulations regarding children in care which underpin the Child Care Act, 1991 are formulated, monitored and implemented by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
There are a number of regulations relevant to children in care:
• Child Care (Placement of Children in Residential Care) Regulations 1995
• Child Care (Placement of Children in Foster Care) Regulations 1995
• Child Care (Placement of Children with Relatives) Regulations 1995
National Standards
The Department of Health and Children (DOHC) prepared National Standards for children in care.
• National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres (2001) DOHC
• National Standards for Children in Foster Care (2003) DOHC
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) inspects services against those standards. In July 2012, HIQA published the National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children and inspects Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, against these standards.
HIQA inspects the Children Detention School against Standards & Criteria for Children Detention Schools (2008) developed by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.