Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, came into existence on 1 January 2014 under the Child and Family Agency Act 2013. Merging the HSE Children and Family Service, the Family Support Agency and the National Education and Welfare Board, Tusla is the dedicated state agency responsible for improving the well-being of and outcomes for children.

Tusla’s services include child welfare and protection services, family resource centres, pre-school inspection, educational welfare responsibilities, alternative care (e.g. foster care, residential care, special care and aftercare), domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services, psychological welfare, assessment, consultation, therapy and treatment services, and adoption services.  

In February 2015 Tusla published its first corporate plan for the period 2015–2017.¹ The corporate plan was developed in four stages – stakeholder consultation, development of a social change model, creation of a vision, mission and values, followed by a set of strategic objectives. These stages are outlined below.

Social change model

Feedback from an extensive a stakeholder consultation, the first stage in developing the corporate plan, was used to develop a ‘social change model’ to map out a path to Tusla’s desired long-term outcomes. The social change model is a process whereby the social problem that an organisation needs to address is identified and the various levers within that organisation’s control that can be used to affect the change are isolated. The social problem that Tusla needs to address was identified as:

A lack of long-term, evidence-informed planning and insufficient resources leads to disjointed services and inadequate supports for children and families.

Having defined the problem, the social change model was used to identify the long-term outcomes that Tusla needs to achieve for children and families over the next seven to ten years. The first three years will focus on putting in place the foundation stones to enable Tusla’s medium and longer term outcomes to be achieved (see Table 1).

Vision, mission and values

Tusla’s  vision, mission and values outline what the organisation wants to achieve, how it wants to achieve it and how  it wants to go about its business.

-        Vision: All children are safe and achieving their full potential.

-        Mission: With the child at the centre, our mission is to design and deliver supportive, coordinated and evidence-informed services that strive to ensure positive outcomes for children.

-        Values: courage and trust; respect and compassion; empathy and inclusion.

Strategic objectives

Tusla will start work towards achieving its desired outcomes by delivering on eight strategic objectives due to be completed in the next three years, i.e. more specific and time-bound targets than the higher-level outcomes. The strategic  objectives are:

1. Improve the quality and focus of the delivery of services for children and families.
2. Develop the governance structures, processes and supporting infrastructure to ensure that Tusla is in a position to carry out its functions in an effective and efficient manner.
3. Establish a new and distinct values-based culture that empowers children and families through high-quality services.
4. Develop an organisation that lives within its means and utilises its resources in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
5. Develop a workforce that is valued and supported within a learning organisation.
6. Position the Agency as a responsive, trustworthy and respected body with its own unique identity.
7. Build on our research strategy to develop policy and enable evidence-based decision-making and high-quality service delivery.
8. Ensure a strategic approach to quality assurance, information management and risk management that supports continuous improvement and good governance.

In conclusion, the plan outlines two key systems that will be put in place to ensure delivery – a corporate risk register, and a quality assurance function that will report regularly on progress. (Brigid Pike)

1. Tusla – Child and Family Agency (2014) Corporate plan 2015–2017 Dublin: Tusla. http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/23497/