To ask the Minister for Children; Equality; Disability; Integration and Youth if she will give consideration to issues raised in correcpondence (Excerpt from correspondence:…... As with every area (Kilbarrack, Dublin 5) especially those in socio-economically deprived areas, there is an unprecedented amount of children presenting with additional needs. Unfortunately, being in a low socio-economic area, private assessment isn't an option for many struggling families. The whole Assessment of Need process is flawed. I have a number of issues which I will outline. Furthermore, many of these issues actually are the reason that there is such a delay!· The form is very basic. Most of the information is about name/address etc. There is a really small box (approx. 5lines) to detail the issues the child is having. · Many people are applying, and the minister has stated that they do not need a complex assessment. Solution to this is having a checklist to ensure people applying meet the criteria. · Parents may commence a complaints process if it isn't carried out in three months. In all my time working with children, since 2009, the AON process has never been carried out in 3months! Therefore, the AON are now also dealing with complaints as well as the ever mounting amount of forms being submitted. Solution: remove this or change the timeline to a year. Another issue, like in all areas of the health service, is private practice. So many of the professionals needed are working in both sectors! A huge team needs to be employed to catch up and assess and review the children on their current list. The backlog needs to be dealt with. I see you have said there are 41,000 children awaiting.) in relation to assessments of needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
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