The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD today launched Listen to Our Voices: Hearing Children and Young People Living in the Care of the State. Listen to Our Voices is the report of consultations with 220 children and young people living in the care of the State, which sought their views on existing mechanisms for them to express their views and structures to be established for them to have a voice on decisions that affect their lives.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister commented: "Reading the report of these consultations, it is abundantly clear that there is a need to consult with young people on the services we provide for them. I was saddened to learn that many of these children and young people had rarely been asked for their opinion before now and, understandably, had difficulty in understanding the concept of having their voice heard. The report strongly highlights the need to facilitate and support them to express themselves. The experience of not being heard has been documented in a number of reports published in recent years. It is now time to embed participation in all decision making processes related to children and young people."
Common themes and issues identified at the consultations by children and young people living in the care of the State included:
· The complexity and importance of regular access to birth parents and siblings;
· Being treated as ‘one of the family’ in foster care;
· The importance of assessment and vetting of as well as compulsory training for foster families;
· The lack of information available to young people in care, particularly on aftercare services which are not consistent in all locations;
· The impact of disruption and multiplicity of placements experienced by young people;
· The importance of having even one person or agency who will listen and ‘be there’ to support a young person in care;
· Issues about confidentiality, privacy, constant record-keeping and the difficulties in gaining consent for relatively normal activities.
The Minister noted: "this was a consultation process and not a research study and a disproportionate number of children in residential care took part, despite the fact that the vast majority of children in the care of the State are in foster care. However, the views of those who took part are valid and add strong value to the provision of a better understanding of the care experience for children and young people."
"I am very happy that there are many positive aspects to this report. For example, young children aged between 8 and 12 years in foster care report largely positive, happy experiences with their foster parents. However, it concerns me that the relationships with social workers, which are so strong for the younger children, are reported as weakened by children in their teenage years. This applies both to teenagers in foster care and teenagers in residential care. I will personally ensure that these issues are addressed in the establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency. Gordon Jeyes, the recently appointed Director of the HSE Children and Family Services, is working with me to systematically improve services for children in care. We must ensure that a high quality and professional services are available to children in care. We are listening, and we will learn", added the Minister.
The Minister also met with 50 children and young people who had taken part in the consultations and were attending the launch. She invited them to sit on a Voice of Children in Care Implementation Group. "I am committed to overseeing that all aspects of the implementation process are informed by children and young people living in the care of the State. To this end, I am establishing a Voice of Children in Care Implementation Group, which will meet over a 9-month period to develop actions to be considered in preparing the legislation to establish the new Children and Families Support Agency and actions to be considered in improving the practice of listening to children in care. While the Implementation Group will be facilitated by my Department and chaired personally by me as Minister, its work and direction will be informed and influenced by children and young people."
Five young people, who took part in the consultations, spoke at the launch. Craig Byrne (17), Karen Conlon (19), Hassan Hussein Ali (19), Josephine Mooney (19) and Catherine Coventry (18) outlined the findings and recommendations from the report. Catherine Coventry said, "I have been in foster care for 18 years. I moved in with my family when I was 6 weeks old and still live with them now. I was always part of the family and never an outsider. My family are what make me who I am today and I’m always grateful for what they do for me." She added: "the young people at the consultations want social workers to have fewer young people to look after and more time with the young people they do look after. They also said that too many adults attend care plan reviews, which makes it impossible for children to talk." Karen Conlon noted: "some people in care said their social worker was good and made a positive impact on their life. She also said, "young people in foster care want to be treated as one of the family. I had foster parents go on holiday with their birth children and leave me behind." Craig Byrne concluded by saying, "I was on the Oversight Committee for the consultations. I got to give my opinion to senior Social workers and other officials. Because my opinion was listened to and taken into account, it gave me a great confidence boost and helped me realise my potential. I would like everyone to remember that the most important thing to come out of these consultations is to make sure that adults listen to our voices."