Tusla hired security guards for special care workers and residents due to critically low staffing levels at one secure care unit for children in the past fortnight. An “unexpected rise in sick leave” at Crannóg Nua in north Co Dublin had exacerbated “staffing challenges” leading to the hiring of “close protection personnel ... as an added safeguard”, according to a spokesman for the agency.The issue will be raised before Judge John Jordan in the High Court on Monday.Special care is the most secure form of care provided by Tusla to the most emotionally disturbed and vulnerable children. Children aged 11 to 17 may be detained in special care by the High Court in cases where their behaviours and circumstances are such that they pose a threat to their own lives or people around them. The State’s three special care units have a capacity for 26 children, but just 15 beds are open due to staffing challenges. Tusla has set staffing ratios at 7:1 over a 24-hour period to ensure compliance with standards set by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa). The Irish Times understands staffing ratios have fallen well below 7:1 at Crannóg Nua since a child prone to aggression and violence has been admitted. This has led to a number of staff taking sick-leave. One professional who has worked in the child care system for more than a decade, and is familiar with the situation at Crannóg Nua, said they had “never seen things as bad as this”. They described the deployment of security guards to the unit, where children are “already carrying huge trauma”, as “so sad to see”. “The system is disintegrating,” they said. “These security guards are not trauma-informed and staff are saying they cannot stand over this.”Records released under the Freedom of Information Act showed Tusla has spent more than €5.4 million on security guards to maintain children in placements since January 2024. Guards were deemed necessary to protect 25 children, and staff working with them, in that time. Two firms are providing the security – Sentinel and SRMI Risk Management. In 2024, two children were maintained in their placements by security guards, at a cost of €93,411. Last year, 14 children required security, at a cost of €3.5 million. So far this year, and excluding the latest developments at Crannóg Nua, nine children have been maintained with security guards, at a cost of more than €1.8 million. In a statement, Tusla said: “Staffing challenges in one special care centre have increased over the past two weeks due to an unexpected rise in sick leave. “In response, we have mobilised additional management and social care staff to support this unit, alongside the targeted use of agency staff as needed.”Tusla said it continued “to prioritise safe and responsive care” and was “working to maintain” staffing ratios. “Across the national special care service, there are currently 97 social care staff available (excluding management grades).”The agency confirmed that “Close Protection Personnel (CPP)” have been introduced in one centre “as an added safeguard in response to significant incidents of violence and aggression against staff by one young person”. “CPP are only deployed in addition to existing social care staff and solely to support the safety of staff and young people, in line with organisational policies and procedures,” it said. “CPP staff have not been deployed to compensate for staffing shortages. There are currently two CPP staff deployed to support staff in one ... unit.”