About Us

Oberstown Children Detention Campus (Oberstown) is a national service that provides a safe and secure environment for young people remanded in custody or sentenced by the Courts for a period of detention. We are located on a single site in Oberstown, Lusk, Co Dublin.

Oberstown falls under the aegis of the Children Detention Schools Unit in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). Oberstown operates under a single Board of Management which is appointed by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

The principal objective of the campus under the Children Act 2001 is to provide appropriate care, education, training and other programmes to young people under 18 years with a view to reintegrating them successfully back into their communities and society.  The framework for providing these objectives is through CEHOP® which focuses on providing Care, Education, Health and wellbeing interventions, Offending behaviour programmes and Preparation for leaving.

Oberstown works with a range of other agencies and disciplines to meet the care needs of its young people while on campus. Placement planning is a priority to ensure that time spent on campus is as effective as possible to achieve best outcomes for each young person.

Oberstown is independently inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) at least annually. All HIQA inspection reports on Oberstown are published on the HIQA website (www.hiqa.ie) and the latest reports are available on this site here. Policies and procedures are reviewed in light of the findings of the inspections and, in keeping with the particular nature of a detention facility, actions are taken to meet the HIQA recommendations.