The current provision for young offenders under the aegis of the Department of Education and Science comprises five special residential schools certified under the Children Act, 1908. They provide a total of 210 places for boys and 15 for girls. Programmes of care and education are provided for the children in question. Behaviour modification programmes are followed with the aim of rehabilitating the children. Good child care practice demands that proper planning is undertaken when children enter residential care. This detailed planning addresses the questions of how care is to support and prepare the young person for their re-entry into the community and family.
Early case reviews and case conferences will identify a detailed care plan and, with the family, probation and welfare service, social workers and other key personnel involved in the life of the child, will work towards the eventual discharge from residential care of the young person. No child is discharged from a special residential school for young offenders without a discharge plan being in place. This will normally make provision for discharge on the following basis: returning the child to the family with support; returning the child to the family and joining, for example, a FÁS course; returning the child to a hostel and/or supportive care environment. The probation and welfare service which works in partnership with the young offender schools often continues to support children when they are discharged from residential care.
The Department is progressing plans in one of the young offender schools for the establishment of an on campus pre-release preparation facility. This unit will be specifically designed to cater for children who are to be reintroduced to the community. The unit will reflect as far as possible normal domestic living where the young people will prepare to live independently as part of a family and community.
The Department has a wide range of supports in place in the areas of socio-economic disadvantage to which the Deputy referred. These supports include early intervention measures which provide additional supports for young people at risk. These measures are aimed at optimising their participation in and benefit from the education system. They include major initiatives such as remedial and home/school/community liaison services, co-ordination with other agencies, guidance and psychological services, and ancillary services and resources for schools in disadvantaged areas as well as the breaking the cycle initiative.
A number of youth encounter projects are also provided for young people who have either become involved in minor delinquency or are at risk of doing so and who have become alienated from the mainstream school system. The pilot scheme under which special counsellor teacher posts have been allocated to assist certain schools in addressing particular difficulties with disruptive pupils is also relevant in this context.
The strategy at second level includes curricular reform such as the junior certificate schools programme, the leaving certificate vocational programme and the applied leaving certificate programme. These are all designed to encourage an improvement in retention rates to completion of senior cycle of up to 90 per cent of the total cohort of second level pupils. There is also a significant emphasis on second chance education and training through the provision of youthreach for unqualified early school leavers over the age of 15 years.
Implementation of the legislative measures set out in the Children (Juvenile Justice) Bill, which is to go to Committee Stage shortly, will provide the framework for future service delivery in this area. The Bill provides a range of preventative measures so that custody of young offenders would be a last resort. However, in the case of children who are committed to the special schools by the court, the Bill specifically makes provision for temporary and short-term leave and placing out on licence whereby the children can be gradually reintegrated into society.
The making of such orders under these provisions will be contingent upon there being a responsible person such as a parent or guardian willing to receive and take charge of the child. Clearly other agencies such as the Probation and Welfare Service and the health boards will have a significant role to play in these matters.
The Children (Juvenile Justice) Bill will also provide for much closer co-operation between the statutory bodies with responsibilities for children in these circumstances. It is well recognised that the provision of an effective after care service for the children in question requires a multiagency response. This is reflected in the provisions of the Bill which call for improved liaison and co-operation between these agencies. This requirement is designed to achieve a seamless continuum of care for children at risk and in conflict with the law.
The House can be assured of the commitment of the Government to providing the resources, facilities and professional personnel to provide care for these unfortunate children.
