Six-year-old Noah was being raised by his alcoholic, depressed mother. He could barely string a sentence together when someone called child protection services to report the neglect.

Today he is doing well. His speech improved and he is learning music. 

Noah’s case was one of the 2,250 new child abuse reports received by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services’ Child Protection Services last year. He was also one of the 100 children who had to be removed from the family environment he lived in. 

But the system that helped him, and others like him, is under strain. There are not enough staff members to cope with the increasing reports. 

The FSWS 2023 annual report showed that the total cases worked (including old and new cases) by the Child Protection Services has been steadily increasing over the years  - increasing from  2,306 cases in 2020 to 4,360 in 2023. The waiting list also increased from 6.8% in 2020 to 14% last year. 

Today, the department receives about 200 new child abuse reports a month, the equivalent of around six reports every day.

'We are 49 people short'

FSWS chief executive Alfred Grixti noted that the high numbers were due to mandatory reporting in cases of child abuse that could range from neglect to physical and sexual abuse. Mandatory reporting came into force in 2021.

The report showed Child Protection Services currently have 55 staff members, including managerial staff.  

“With a caseload of 25 cases each, we would need about 96 people working in child protection – we are 49 people short,” Grixti said as he outlined the key points of the annual report that showed that Child Protection Services had the highest number on unallocated cases in 2023  - 14% compared to other departments where the percentage ranged between 9% and 0.1%.

Despite the high numbers, the majority of child protection cases respond well to the support provided and lead to a successful outcome, the report noted.

Noah was one of them: “He previously spoke very little but now he speaks in almost full sentences and has developed interests in activities like playing musical instruments,” the report said. This motivated the mother to seek help and she now continues to make progress. 

Foundation supports over 23,000 people

During the launch of the annual report Grixti outlined that, in 2023, FSWS worked with 23,729 people – an increase of 4.5% compared to the previous year. There was an upward trend across all services.

Aġenzija Appoġġ worked 9,449 cases in 2023 up by 6% compared to the previous year. The support agency offers a vast range of services that include domestic violence services and support for the homeless, sex workers, human trafficking victims and support lines.

The report showed that Supportline 179 and Loneliness Helpline 1772 received about 40 calls daily.

Some 44% of all cases across the foundation, that is 10,996 cases, were closed by the end of the year. A further 40% (9,891 cases) were still active and 4% (1,032) were awaiting allocation.

The majority of service users – 85% - were Maltese and 53% were women. When looking at age brackets, the majority of service users were children and the elderly with about 5,000 users under 17 and some 5,500 over 60.

FSWS chief executive Alfred Grixti. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Help was mostly sought from people living in the Northern Harbour District (25%), which spans from Birkirkara to Pembroke. This was followed by the Southern Harbour District (22%) that includes the Three Cities, Marsa and Valletta amongst other localities.

The top five presenting problems were health-related issues (17%), child abuse (16%, addictive behaviour (13%), domestic violence (13%) and mental health (6%), Grixti said.

Data for the Alternative Care Directorate, which supports children find a safe home environment, showed that the community homes housed 61 children. The fostering service provided 36 placements for children in need of alternative care.

Over 35,000 hours of supervised access visits to service users were provided in 2023. There were 10 adoption processes that included two children from Slovakia, one from Morocco and seven from Malta - these were freed for adoption while in foster care.

The total budget for the FSWS for 2023 was €30.6 million and, by the end of the year, there were 973 employees – 80% were professionals and included social workers, support workers, specialised doctors and nurses.