The Child and Family Agency was established on 1st January 2014 and is responsible for a range of statutory functions including provision of child protection, alternative care, specified regulatory services and a range of family support services. The Agency has commenced a major improvement programme with significant focus on Practice, Culture and Structure.
The Agency currently has responsibility for a budget of circa €1.2billion and delivers its services through over 5,500 people in 259 locations across the Country.
The Child and Family Agency has responsibility for the following range of services:
• Child Protection and Welfare
• Parenting, Family Support and Early Help Services
• Alternative Care
• Birth Information & Tracing and Adoption
• Tusla Education Support Services (TESS)
• Children’s Service Regulation
• Counselling and Therapeutic Supports
Further information is available on www.tusla.ie

Post Specific Service: About Tusla’s Quality & Regulation Directorate
Tusla’s Quality & Regulation Directorate is concerned with promoting continuous improvement and effective risk management in services for children and families. It delivers its functions though the following functions:

Service Experience and Feedback:
Part 9 of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 governs complaints procedures and reviews, complainants’ rights, referral to the Ombudsman, and annual report requirements. “Tell Us” is Tusla’s policy governing feedback and complaints. The team is responsible for managing Tell Us, including training other Tusla staff nationwide, collecting metrics, channelling complaints and feedback, and dealing with individual complaints. The team is also involved in encouraging participation of children and listening to the voice of the child in Tusla and Tusla-funded

Risk and Incident Management: The team is responsible for the corporate risk register, and all aspects of risk and incident management systems within the Agency. The team aims to ensure Tusla is aware of the nature of its risks, their status and how they are being managed.

Integrated Reporting and Outcomes
Performance Reporting and Information: the Performance Reporting and Information team collates analyses and reports on quality and risk data relevant to the child and services. It identifies trends and performance data to support accountability and transparency, inform policy development and legislative reform, to demonstrate where standards and targets are being met, and identify risk and support decision-making at all levels of the organisation.

Other functions within Tusla’s Quality and Regulation Directorate:
Practice Assurance and Service Monitoring (PASM): The team are responsible for conducting practice reviews and monitoring of Tulsa services independently of Tusla Operations. The team has a key role in supporting and enabling service improvement within Tusla.

The team monitors and reports on service delivery against standards, regulations and legislative requirements, and seeks to ensure that service improvement activity takes place in response to reviews. The Team is also responsible for monitoring special emergency arrangements (SEAs) for children in care.

Children’s Services Regulation:
Early Years’ Inspectorate: The Early Years’ Inspectorate is the independent statutory regulator of Early Years’ Services and is responsible for registering and inspecting pre-schools, playgroups,crèches, day care, school age care and similar services. Its role is to promote the quality, safety and appropriate care of children by robust regulation of the sector.

Alternative Education Assessment: Children who are educated at home or who attend a non-recognised school (i.e. a school that is not funded by the Department of Educational and Skills) must be registered with Tusla by their parents/guardians. The registration process requires that an assessment or assessments be carried out to determine whether the child is receiving a certain minimum education and therefore can be placed on the statutory register of children educated outside of a recognised school. Children who are educated in an independent school setting can also be placed on the register where it is determined that the school is providing a minimum education to the pupils who are enrolled there.

Alternative Care Regulation: The team monitors and reports on alternative care settings for children who cannot live with their families The service is responsible currently for the registration and inspection of non-statutory residential care settings for young people, as well as the monitoring and audit of non-statutory foster care providers.

Alternative Care Regulation: The team monitors and reports on alternative care settings for children who cannot live with their families The service is responsible currently for the registration and inspection of non-statutory residential care settings for young people, as well as the monitoring and audit of non-statutory foster care providers.

Regulatory Practice Development
The Regulatory Practice Development Team is responsible for a range of functions to provide support to Children’s Services Regulation. There are five distinct functions which are; management and analysis of data and business process design and re-design, implementation and maintenance of the Quality Management system across Children’s Services Regulation, co-ordination and delivery of Learning and Development, provision of expert advice and guidance on matters relating to children attending early years services and management of Children’s Services Regulation communications which includes the website and the publication of inspection reports.

Main Duties and Responsibilities
Professional
This post will be an opportunity to leverage existing skills, and experiences within a dedicated and supportive team environment, focussed on delivering tailored and bespoke advisory solutions, to drive change for key improvements in Incident and Risk management activities to support operational excellence and organizational learning across the Agency. The person will be required to engage with a wide range of Stakeholders across the Agency and beyond to define, design and support implementation and evaluation of the following:

• Co-Ordinate and support agreed quality improvement projects within the team  and across the Agency, with the application of quality improvement methodologies
• Development, delivery and evaluation of bespoke and tailored training resources and information guides to support compliance and learning across the Agency on Incident and Risk Management activities
• Development, implementation and monitoring of key performance indicators for incident management with associated meta data.
• Development, implementation and monitoring of Key Risk indicators with associated meta data for the purpose of tracking the level of Risk within the organisation.
• Develop and deliver training programmes

Communication & Interpersonal Skills
• To demonstrate an ability to build effective professional rapport with colleagues and other key stake holders.
• To create and maintain a positive work environment.
• Demonstrates good organisational skills
• Demonstrate good customer service and conflict management skills.
• Demonstrate an ability to build and maintain partnerships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Create and maintain effective reporting, recording and administrative systems.

Analytical Skills, Evaluating Information and Decision Making
• Demonstrate competent data analysis and information screening.
• Possess excellent attention to detail and an ability to analyse and interrogate high volumes of data as well as demonstrating and ability to focus on higher level overview.
• Demonstrate ability to evaluate information and provide sound judgement
• Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Excellent decision making and analytical skills.
• Will oversee the enforcement functions of the office.

Health & Safety
• Comply with and contribute to the development of policies, procedures, guidelines and safe professional practice and adhere to relevant legislation, regulations and standards.
• Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the service for example National Standards for Child Protection and Care and comply with associated Tusla – Child and Family Agency protocols for implementing and maintaining these standards as appropriate to the role.
• To support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service.

The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.

Please refer to the Candidate Information pack attached to this campaign for full and further detail

Applicants must by the closing date of application have the following:
• Be currently in employment with Tusla – Child and Family Agency, the HSE or within other statutory health agencies, or a body which provides services on behalf of the HSE under Section 38/39 of the Health Act 2004 or within a body that provides services on behalf of Tusla under Section 56 or Section 59 of the Child and Family Act 2013.
• Demonstrable understanding of both risk and incident management practices, methodologies and standards.
• Have strong computer and analytical skills for the purpose of data analysis, monitoring and development of performance indicators.
• Have experience in preparing analytical reports.
• Have a clear understanding of improvement methodologies.
• Experience of supporting change in a complex organisation.
• Must have the requisite knowledge and ability (including a high standard of suitability, professional and managerial ability) for the proper discharge of the duties of the office.

Health
A candidate for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.
Character
Each candidate for and any person holding the office must be of good character.