From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on 24 May 2024
Last updated on 23 May 2024
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, today welcomed the announcement by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, of the establishment of Clinical and Therapeutic Lead posts that will benefit eight Family Resource Centres (FRCs) around the country. This will ensure that there is a Clinical and Therapeutic Lead in all six Tusla regions.
It is expected that the Clinical and Therapeutic Lead will develop therapeutic specialisms, responding to needs as they emerge, expand the counselling service to offer additional counselling hours, and expand play therapy services
Minister O’Gorman said:
“I would like to acknowledge the excellent work that Tusla colleagues have put into making these Clinical and Therapeutic Lead posts a reality. I am a long-time admirer of the vast range of work done by FRCs in communities around the country, and I have personally witnessed the positive impact FRCs have on their communities. I also want to acknowledge the collaborative work done by the FRC National Forum, with particular thanks to Grace Kearney, National Programme Lead, for leading out on this work.”
The Minister added:
“We know that the needs of communities can be complex, challenging and ever-changing. In this context the Clinical Lead posts will, I believe, positively impact on the ability of the FRCs to offer additional supports, and a particular focus will be on the development of quality services that are adapted to meet presenting and emerging needs. This will be additional to a range of administrative and governance duties that the Clinical Leads take on. I wish all the Clinical Leads the very best with their endeavours.”
Note for Editors:
The Family Resource Centre programme is a community-focussed programme that is financially supported by many State Agencies. It is important to note that funding from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth represents only a portion of the total funding available to FRCs nationally. In addition to core funding provided by the Department, FRCs draw on various sources of funding provided by other Government Departments and Agencies.
The Clinical and Therapeutic Lead will provide clinical leadership across the therapeutic and counselling service in the FRC, and will be responsible for clinical governance.
It is expected that the Clinical and Therapeutic Lead will:
- develop therapeutic specialisms, responding to needs as they emerge
- expand the counselling service to offer additional counselling hours
- expand play therapy services
- securing space for qualified play therapists, and providing the opportunity for creative group therapy sessions to take place
- supporting parents of the children attending play therapy
- offer crisis management (holding hours) for people in immediate distress
- provide the opportunity for people to avail of initial assessment to identify the best type of intervention/support for them and offer alternative support in the interim while waiting for counselling allocation
- reduce waiting lists.
The FRCs concerned are as follows:
click link Family Resource Centres (FRCs)