Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 January 2017
1690. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children leaving care in 2015 and 2016 broken down by area, in tabular form; the number who had a completed aftercare plan; the number who had an allocated aftercare worker in the Child and Family Agency; and the number with an allocated after-care worker from outside the Child and Family Agency. [41838/16]
View answerAftercare is a term used to describe the planning and support put in place to meet the needs of a young person who is leaving statutory care at 18 years of age, to assist him/her in making the transition to independent living. Formal planning for a child who is leaving care normally begins when they turn 16 years of age and an aftercare plan is expected to be in place in the run up to their 18th Birthday. It should be noted that young people leaving care at 18 years are not obliged to avail of an aftercare service, and those that choose not to engage are encouraged and supported to avail of the services at any stage up to the age of 21 years.
Tusla publishes figures of children being discharged from care on turning 18 years of age and the most recent data are to quarter 3 of 2016 and are provided in the table below.
Table 1: Number discharged and reported with an aftercare worker in 2015 (Tusla Quarterly reports)
|
- |
2015 |
2015 |
2015 |
|
AREAS |
No. Discharged from Care |
No. eligible for aftercare support |
No. with aftercare worker |
|
Dublin South Central |
34 |
29 |
14 |
|
Dublin South East/Wicklow |
23 |
23 |
23 |
|
Dublin South West/Kildare West Wicklow |
53 |
43 |
27 |
|
Midlands |
58 |
57 |
57 |
|
Dublin City North |
53 |
53 |
39 |
|
Dublin North |
21 |
21 |
19 |
|
Louth/Meath |
29 |
27 |
26 |
|
Cavan/Monaghan (no Q1) |
19 |
19 |
17 |
|
Cork |
77 |
76 |
64 |
|
Kerry |
12 |
12 |
9 |
|
Carlow Kilkenny/South Tipperary |
13 |
13 |
3 |
|
Waterford/Wexford |
58 |
58 |
58 |
|
Mid West |
44 |
43 |
43 |
|
Galway/Roscommon |
23 |
23 |
20 |
|
Mayo |
8 |
8 |
8 |
|
Donegal |
12 |
10 |
9 |
|
Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
National Total |
542 |
520 |
441 |
Table 2: Number discharged and reported with an aftercare worker up to Q3 2016 (Tusla Quarterly reports)
|
- |
2016 (to Q3) |
2016 (to Q3) |
2016 (to Q3) |
2016 (to Q3) |
|
AREAS |
No. Discharged from Care |
No. Availing of support |
No. eligible for aftercare support |
No. with aftercare worker |
|
Dublin South Central |
35 |
13 |
33 |
13 |
|
Dublin South East/Wicklow |
17 |
17 |
17 |
17 |
|
Dublin South West/Kildare West Wicklow |
36 |
22 |
30 |
21 |
|
Midlands |
16 |
15 |
16 |
15 |
|
Dublin City North |
83 |
76 |
83 |
54 |
|
Dublin North |
52 |
49 |
52 |
49 |
|
Louth/Meath |
26 |
26 |
26 |
26 |
|
Cavan/Monaghan (no Q1) |
12 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
|
Cork |
63 |
61 |
62 |
47 |
|
Kerry |
7 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
|
Carlow Kilkenny/South Tipperary |
19 |
18 |
19 |
17 |
|
Waterford/Wexford |
25 |
24 |
24 |
24 |
|
Mid West |
29 |
28 |
29 |
27 |
|
Galway/Roscommon |
24 |
22 |
24 |
22 |
|
Mayo |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
Donegal |
11 |
10 |
11 |
11 |
|
Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
National Total |
467 |
411 |
457 |
371 |
In terms of funding, I secured an additional €37m for Tusla in Budget 2017 and one of the priorities is to implement the legislation on aftercare and this additional funding will enable Tusla to employ more aftercare workers.
Tusla reports that at the end of September, 2016, the vast majority of 18-22 years olds in receipt of an aftercare service were residing in some form of stable accommodation. In fact, 46% of those care leavers remained living with their foster carers, 26% were living independently, 10% returned home, 3% were living in supported lodgings and 6% were living in residential centres. Only a small minority (9%) were living in other types of less stable accommodation including psychiatric services, supported living for young mothers, disability services and detention centres.
