Action for Aftercare
Action for Aftercare:
Coalition Echoes HSE Children's Director Call for Statutory Aftercare Provision
Dublin, 8 February 2010 - Action for Aftercare, a coalition of NGOs, practitioners and academics for the statutory provision of aftercare for children leaving the care system, today welcomed the support for such provision by Phil Garland, HSE Assistant Director for Children and Families.
In an interview published in today's Irish Times, Mr. Garland stated his belief that legislation on aftercare should be changed to reflect the State's role as parent for children in its care. Action for Aftercare is currently seeking an amendment to the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009 presently going through the Oireachtas to ensure the statutory provision of aftercare for all children in care.
Jennifer Gargan, Director of the Irish Association of Young People in Care (IAYPIC), said: "Many children do not receive aftercare when they leave the care system. For children who have been in care for many years, this can represent a traumatic and abrupt change in their lives.
Children do not become fully independent adults merely by turning 18 and those in care must be provided with support as they move from childhood to young adulthood. The State is the de facto parent for children in the care system - the lack of compulsory statutory provision for aftercare means that many children do not get the support they need at a very vulnerable stage of their lives."
Deirdre McTeigue, Director of the Irish Foster Care Association (IFCA), added: "Foster parents frequently want to continue to support the children in their care once they have reached 18 but are prevented from doing so in many areas around the country by the patchy availability of aftercare support and services. This can cause huge upset to children and foster parents. It is extremely important that aftercare services be developed consistently across Ireland. All children in care deserve the right to access such services."
Orla Barry, Head of Services for Focus Ireland, concluded: "In our experience, children leaving the care system without the adequate supports are very vulnerable to isolation, exclusion and homelessness.
It is ridiculous that young people should be expected to fend for themselves because of a lack of aftercare services; these young people need support to learn what other young people learn from families as they make the transition from their teenage years to adulthood. They need to be given the support to learn the life skills they need to live independently and grow into their adulthood."
Aftercare provision is currently provided for in Section 45 of the Child Care Act 1991. However, the wording in the current legislation states that the HSE "may" provide aftercare for children who need it. Action for Aftercare believes that all children must be provided with an aftercare service that meets their needs. At present, many children who do need aftercare services do not receive them; at the very least, Action for Aftercare calls for the changing of the current wording in the Child Care Act from "may" to "shall" and the inclusion of a request for regulations to be developed for such services in the wording of an amendment.
It is vital that the State takes its role as corporate parent to children in its care seriously and reflects this role in the vulnerable period after young people turn 18.
ENDS
For further information please contact
Jennifer Gargan, Irish Association of Young People in Care, 086 607 3866
Deirdre McTeigue, Irish Foster Care Association, 01 459 9474/ 087 6555 880
Orla Barry, Focus Ireland, 01 881 5900
Note to Editor
Action for Aftercare is a coalition of NGOs, practitioners and academics working to ensure that all children leaving the care system have access to aftercare services. Members include:
Barnardos, Children's Rights Alliance, Focus Ireland, the Irish Association of Young People in Care, the Irish Foster Care Association, the Irish Network of Aftercare Workers, Diane Duggan BL.