Vol. 471 No. 2
22 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Health the number of children under the care of each health board, or who have presented themselves to the health boards as homeless, who are currently in bed and breakfast accommodation; the further proposals, if any, he has for providing appropriate accommodation for such children in the context of the Child Care Act and the forthcoming juvenile justice legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20458/96]
I understand, from inquiries made to the health boards, that there were three children in bed and breakfast accommodation on the night of 3 November 1996. Two of the youngsters were in the care of the Southern Health Board and the third young person was in the North-Western Health Board region.
The Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to go into the details of the individual circumstances of these young people. However the age profile of these youngsters 15, 16 and 17½ years indicates the difficulty of obtaining suitable residential or foster care placements for older adolescents.
I do not regard the use of bed and breakfast accommodation as an acceptable response to the problem of youth homelessness. My Department has made it clear to the health boards that if, in cases of emergency, there is no alternative to the placement of a homeless child in this form of accomodation, immediate steps should be taken to secure an appropriate hostel, residential or family placement for the child. However, I recognise that the occasional case may arise where the provision of bed and breakfast accommodation may be appropriate for a youngster who requires overnight accommodation in response to a specific unforeseen situation.
It is recognised across the health boards that an integrated range of measures is necessary in order to deal with the problem of youth homelessness. A number of interventions are required including: yearly childhood intervention to prevent children at risk from becoming homeless; greater provision of services for families and young people in the community; the provision of suitable and varied accomodation and back-up services for young homeless people; and accommodation and support services for children leaving care.
Accordingly health boards have developed a range of services to help tackle the problem. Since 1993 over £35 million has been provided to develop services under the Child Care Act including family support and community services. Proposals have been submitted to Government for the further development of our child care services over the next three years. The Government has given approval in principle to this programme and I am hopeful that announcements in respect of its detailed implementation can be made shortly.
The forthcoming juvenile justice legislation, due to be published within the next few weeks, is not relevant to this issue.
