• Tusla Education Support Service (TESS)

TESS operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands namely the Statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP). The three TESS strands work together collaboratively with schools, families and other relevant services to achieve the best educational outcomes for children and young people.

• Education Welfare Service (EWS)

Educational Welfare Service works with children and families who have difficulties in relation to school attendance, participation, retention. It operates under the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 and works collaboratively with schools and other relevant services to secure better educational outcomes for children and young people. 

• Home School Liaison (HSCL)

Under DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services. A HSCL Coordinator is a teacher from a participating school who is released from teaching duties in order to work intensively with and support parents/guardians. The overarching goal of the HSCL Coordinator is to improve educational outcomes for children through their work with the key adults in the child’s life.

• School Completion Programme (SCP)

The School Completion Programme (SCP) is a targeted programme of support for primary and post primary children and young people who have been identified as potentially at risk of early school leaving or who are out of school and have not successfully transferred to an alternative learning site (i.e. Youthreach, Community Training Centre etc.) or employment.  It is a support under the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme, funded by Tusla Education Support Services (TESS). SCP aims to retain a young person to completion of the leaving certificate, equivalent qualification or suitable level of educational attainment which enables them to transition into further education, training or employment.

https://www.tusla.ie/tess/

• Children and Young People’s Services Committees

In recent years, a number of individual Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSCs) have developed bespoke resource packs on the theme of school avoidance/school refusal at county level.

CYPSC are county-level committees that bring together the main statutory, community and voluntary providers of services to children and young people.  They provide a forum for joint planning and interagency co-ordination of activity to ensure that children, young people and their families receive improved and accessible services.

Academics working in this area in include, Dr Catriona O’Toole,  Maynooth University and Dr Roisin Devenney, South East Technological University, Jane Sharpe, University of Galway.