Purpose: To support and promote the development, welfare, education, and protection of children and young people, the effective functioning of families and the continued care for adults who use our services.

2023 was a year in which we once again saw a marked increase in referrals, with a total of 91,924 referrals to child protection and welfare services across the year. This increase in demand for services, in the context of wider societal issues such as the housing crisis, global movement, poverty, domestic and gender-based violence, drugs, criminality and exploitation, has certainly presented challenges, particularly around the supply of emergency and alternative care placements, and we also continued to experience workforce supply issues in Social Work and Social Care...

Workshops were delivered across the Dublin North area which includes Swords, Rush, Lusk, Balbriggan, Skerries and Donabate. The information sessions were very much welcomed and praised by all in attendance as being extremely informative; this led to an online event for the programme’s delivery. The workshops were organised by a subgroup with representation from Tobacco Free Ireland, Health Service Executive (HSE), North Dublin Regional Drug task force, Foróige, Crosscare, Substance Abuse Service Specific to Youth (SASSY) and the Child and Family Support Network Co-Ordinator, and was funded by CYPSC.

[Appendices include funding for other organisations]