Appoġġ will have to offer its services to fewer people or recruit more staff if its caseload had to be eased in line with recommendations by an inquiry board, according to an agency spokesman.
The board, which looked into the services offered to juvenile offenders, found that Appoġġ – the government’s support agency – had a large case workload that did not allow social workers to follow a case thoroughly. Each social worker deals with about 40 cases when the recommended caseload is of about 10 to 15 children per social worker.
The most recent figures compiled by Appoġġ showed that, in 2009, the agency had a caseload of 8,000 cases, including children and adults. All cases were handled by 182 employees who made direct contact with the clients through home/school visits or phone calls, among other methods.
The agency pointed out that some clients made use of more than one service and every social worker had a different number of cases to work on, depending on the particular service.
An Appoġġ spokesman acknowledged the load on the workers and the difficulties that arose from such a caseload. The caseload per social worker varied from a caseload of 25 to 40 or over depending on the particular service and the nature of the work.
The spokesman said over the past years the agency had recruited more staff and increased the services offered. However, this had not been sufficient to deal with the increase in the demand for services and the rise in the complexity of situations being dealt with.
She said the agency worked constantly to support the staff, increase resources where possible and improve the overall efficiency of the services while maintaining good quality standards.
“Even though the agency has limited resources, its staff are very professional in their work and committed to the people who make use of Appoġġ services and always give their utmost in each case they encounter. They also strive to provide a high quality service,” the spokesman said.
The inquiry report also said Appoġġ did not have an efficient 24/7 emergency service.
When asked about this the spokesman said: “Appoġġ offers emotional support and crisis intervention through its 24-hour supportline 179, a freephone service, available 365 days a year, run by a team of professionally-trained volunteers... Between January and December 2009, supportline 179 received 9,662 geniune calls for assistance.”
The inquiry board had been tasked to look into the case of two troubled children who were denied bail over the alleged theft of €400.
The recommendations included the need to overhaul the juvenile justice system with reforms in the police, the courts, prison and even NGOs dealing with young people.
The report, commissioned by the Children’s Commissioner last August, said incarceration should be the very last resort and the government should ensure there were a range of options to imprisonment, such as therapeutic facilities and secure homes.
Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato said she would he heading a task force, made of representatives of various ministries, that would draw up a plan to implement the recommendations that fit into the holistic vision for the services in the long and short term.
Although there was no date set for the first meeting, since representatives from all ministries involved still had to be nominated, this should happen shortly, she said.