Family Support Worker
Community Childcare Worker
Aftercare Worker
Social Worker
Childcare manager
Clinical Psychologist
Counselling psychologists
Counsellor/Psychotherapist
Educational Psychologists

Family Support Worker
The Family Support Worker Service offers practical and emotional support to families during difficult times with a view to maintaining children at home with their families where possible. The Service offers home based support to families for an agreed number of hours per week in some of the following areas

Parenting Skills
Confidence and Personal Development
Home Care Management
Diet, Nutrition and Health Care
Budgeting and Family Finance

The Family Support Worker is conscious of child protection concerns within the family and will report any concerns to the social worker. Family Support Workers attend all child protection meetings, courts or family welfare conferences.

Community Childcare Worker
A Community Childcare Worker works with other professionals to enhance the development of children both in the care of the HSE, and those who have been identified as being at risk, deprived, disadvantaged or requiring special attention for a variety of reasons. They work with children who display specific and general behaviour, learning and emotional problems. They will empower parents and carers to enable them to cope with and facilitate the development of the children in their care.  Childcare Workers also work with children in care to help them make sense of past experiences.

Aftercare Worker
An Aftercare Worker carries out duties assigned by the Principal Social Worker or Team Leader in relation to the welfare and social needs of young people leaving care and their carers/families. They liaise with the medical, nursing, para-medical and other HSE staff and organisations involved with care plans for young people leaving care.

Aftercare workers ensure that care plans focussing on the accommodation, education, employment, health and social care needs of young people leaving or having left the care system are implemented.

Social Worker
The Professionally Qualified Social Worker in the child care services can work in four main areas; Child Protection, Child Placement, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Family Support. Social workers may work with families and individuals who are experiencing a variety of problems, including emotional, social, psychiatric and behavioural. They may also work with individuals and their families on either a daily or weekly basis on matters such as child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and adoption of both foreign and Irish children. Social workers work with a team of professionals to respond to the needs of clients.

Child Care Manager
The Child Care Manager is responsible for the overall management and development of Child Care Services within a designated geographical area.  They are responsible for delivering cost effective services in line with HSE policies and and within the resources allocated. The Child Care Manager receives all reports on child abuse and initiates appropriate action in consultation with relevant heads of discipline who in turn decides when and in what circumstances a case conference is necessary; and make suitable arrangements for same. 

Clinical Psychologist
The clinical psychologist has a specialist qualification in mental health and works as part of the mental health team in a unit or hospital and is involved in assessment and counselling therapy. Family therapy may be provided where appropriate and a particular approach may be used for specific problems, such as a cognitive-behavioural approach for phobias. Referral is often through a GP or psychiatrist, but self-referral is possible.

Counselling psychologists
Counselling Psychologists aim to reduce psychological distress and to enhance and promote psychological well-being with clients by examining mental health issues and exploring the underlying problems that may have caused them. Using self-awareness and integration of psychological theory and research into therapeutic practice they deal with mental health, physical health and emotional problems including anxiety, depression, relationship problems, addictions, and relationships. Counselling Psychologists deal with both adult and child clients. They work in a diverse range of settings including local health office clinics, primary care, hospitals, or as part of a multi-disciplinary team such as in disability services and child protection or in family therapy settings. Typically, Counselling Psychologists work in the HSE, voluntary bodies, in private practice and in third level institutions. Referral is often through a GP or psychiatrist, but self-referral is possible. Generally Counselling Psychologists in the HSE are registered members of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI).

Counsellor/Psychotherapist

A Counsellor / Psychotherapist is trained to listen carefully to the client’s problems and to support the client while s/he finds you’re her/his own solutions in a relationship that is confidential and is based on respect and trust. Counselling / Psychotherapists can help a client to discover the reasons for negative feelings and to work out ways of dealing with them as well as providing a time for the client to express difficult feelings such as fear, suspicion and jealousy in a safe, supportive environment. The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) identifies, develops and maintains professional standards of excellence in counselling and psychotherapy through education, training and accreditation. The IACP recognises various training courses that have been assessed in accordance with the IACP Criteria and Guidelines for Courses Seeking Recognition and have been approved as valid core courses for the purpose of individual accreditation with the IACP. Counsellors and Psychotherapists sometimes work in the HSE (National Adult Counselling Service) and often work in community-based services and in private practice.

Educational Psychologists
Educational Psychologists assess the needs of children and young people who have behavioural, learning, social or emotional problems and provide appropriate interventions which may include therapies, counselling or learning support programmes.  Work is with individual clients or groups including the support of parents, educational staff, social workers and other professionals.  Client work may involve an assessment of the child using observation, interviews and psychometric test materials.  The Educational Psychologist offers specialist skills and knowledge in the area of childhood development and disability.  They are trained to view clients from a systemic and bioecological perspective (i.e. person-place-context understanding of human development) taking into account all factors and systems that may impact on the life of a child or young person and their family in the context of the wider community.  Educational Psychologists work in a wide range of settings including community settings, schools, and specialist services such as those provided for youth at risk and children in care.  They also play a key role as part of multi-disciplinary teams such as Early Intervention Teams and School Age Disability Teams. Educational Psychologists work in the HSE, National Educational Psychological Services (NEPS), voluntary bodies, in private practice and in third level institutions.