PART IV PART III PART II PART I CANCELLOR OF JUSTICE AS OMBUDSMAN FOR CHILDREN In three families in Tallinn Children’s Home centre for infants and children with disabilities where the children had a severe or profound disability the requirement of the presence of two carers was not fulfilled in the morning when the children awoke. Thus, one carer carried the responsibility of changing diapers, washing, dressing, preparing for school or kindergarten and accompanying from the house to the bus of seven or eight children of one family. The Chancellor proposed to the head of Tallinn Children’s Home and head of the centre for infants and children with disabilities to comply with the Social Welfare Act by ensuring that the required number of carers is on duty. The Chancellor emphasised that, as a first priority, in order to ensure adequate care of the children there should be at least two carers on duty in each family in the morning. Qualification of staff As a result of the inspection visits during the reporting year, it was found that in both substitute homes people without the required qualification were working with children. While at Kiikla substitute home two of the nine people working with children did not have the required qualification, in the Tallinn Children’s Home centre for infants and children with disabilities even 17 out of 41 people did not have the required qualification of at least an assistant carer. The inspection revealed that also other centres of Tallinn Children’s Home had the problem of unqualified staff working with children. At the end of 2012, 80% of all the unqualified staff (52 out of 65) in all the substitute homes worked at Tallinn Children’s Home and only 20% at the remaining 34 substitute home service providers.120 The provision of a high-quality service without qualified staff might not be possible as work with children nowadays also requires specialist knowledge in addition to suitable personality traits. Staff without sufficient qualification are not necessarily able to resolve more complicated rearing problems or offer sufficiently professional support and assistance to a child, for example due to a special need or in exceptional circumstances. On this basis, the Chancellor proposed to the head of Tallinn Children’s Home and head of the centre for infants and children with disabilities to take necessary steps to ensure that all the people engaged in care work with children in the substitute home comply with the qualification requirements established by the law. 56 120 In comparison: at the end of 2012, about 20% of all the carers and family elders working in substitute homes and children living in them were at Tallinn Children’s Home and 80% at the remaining 34 service providers.