Children at a special care unit in Dublin were the subject of ‘inhuman and degrading treatment', the Children's Rights Alliance has insisted.

It was responding to a report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), which found serious issues in the Ballydowd Special Care Unit in Lucan, Co Dublin, including children having to urinate on the floor because they were in locked rooms with no access to a toilet.

The unit accommodates children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are placed in special care by order of the High Court on the basis that they pose a serious risk to themselves or others. The centre is managed by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

The HIQA report revealed that some children were held in single separation for excessive periods without proper safeguards.

"It found that the physical environment in the unit created conditions where children were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. Some were forced to urinate on the floor and sleep overnight without blankets or mattresses. On one occasion, a child spent five days in single separation," noted the alliance's chief executive, Tanya Ward.

She said that depriving a child of social contact for prolonged periods of time in inappropriate conditions ‘can be very harmful'.

"The young people in special care are incredibly vulnerable and many have had traumatic experiences in the lives. This is a specialised area of social care work and the HIQA report found that staff at the unit didn't always have the training they needed to respond appropriately. It also found that some complaints from children were not handled effectively internally," Ms Ward pointed out.

In fact, the report noted that ‘staff members were not trained in the use of single separation and practice was not always consistent with standards', and some of the experiences of children ‘could be deemed as degrading and impacted on their dignity and rights'.
Ms Ward said that it is the alliance's view that ‘single separation facilities without basic sanitation should not be used'.

"The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture is very clear that in the area of juvenile detention, a rigorous selection and training programme must be put in place for staff. Clear avenues of complaint are also essential to protect children in detention from harm. Such avenues should be available to children both within the units themselves and externally," she commented.

Responding to the report, Fred McBride, Tusla's chief operations officer, said that the agency ‘accepts that on occasion when faced with intense and sustained pressure from challenging and violent behaviour, the processes underpinning the use of single separation were not adequate'.

"Tusla regrets this and is currently taking steps to strengthen its decision making procedures and facilities," he said.

He added that Tusla is currently in the process of developing a ‘specially designed single occupancy facility at Ballydowd, which will be better equipped to deal with extreme challenging behaviour'. This will in turn reduce the need for single separation, he noted.