Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 February 2019
35. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the lack of consistency that exists in terms of children in foster care receiving aftercare plans and aftercare workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7063/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraHas the Minister's attention be drawn to the lack of consistency in the aftercare plans and aftercare workers for children in foster care.
I thank the Deputy for her ongoing interest in this area. I am aware that the rollout of Tusla’s after care policy has been uneven across areas, particularly in the minority of Tusla areas that have recruitment and retention problems. However, overall the service has improved considerably in recent years. Each year, around 500 young people who have been in care turn 18 years of age. The most recent data available relates to September 2018 when there were 2,366 16 and 17 year olds, and young adults, who have an aftercare worker.
Of those assessed as needing an aftercare worker, 93% had one assigned to them. The majority of young adults receiving aftercare services had an aftercare plan according to the most recent data.
Of the 1,979 young adults aged 18 to 22 years in aftercare, there were 393 young people in aftercare in university or other third level college. A further 272 were completing their second level education. In terms of other education and training, 592 young adults were in vocational training, PLCs and accredited training courses. At this time there is limited data on the breakdown of the remaining 700 young people who are either working, unemployed or are in receipt of disability services. Tusla is developing systems to provide further detail in this area, and I have asked that this work be expedited.
Tusla has 100 approved aftercare posts including 11 vacancies, and the NGO sector is funded to provide a further 18 posts. While this works out as an average caseload of 20 per aftercare worker, some young people need more extensive support while others may only need occasional advice and help in accessing State supports. For example, 45% of young people in aftercare remain living with and supported by their former foster carers. This group generally requires less input from their aftercare worker than a young person leaving residential care. They have differing needs which inform how Tusla supports them.
This is one of the questions that I ask regularly because there are so many different views on it and care-leavers have such different experiences. It is so hard to achieve a uniformity so that all needs are met. Does the Department engage with people and garner their views of aftercare service? Does Tusla and the Department have a formal advisory council for young people with experience of the foster care system and, if not, would the Minister consider establishing such a forum? Have we a way of gathering this information? We must listen to the voices of young people, and I do not believe that they are being listened to. I worry that some of the 770 people of whom the Minister spoke will end up in homelessness.
Those are all excellent questions. As I acknowledged, we do not yet have the uniformity that we seek. It is an ambition but it will require more work, particularly to ensure the adequate level of staffing in the different areas as well as ensuring that we improve data collection. That is what I tried to indicate in my answer. It relates to staff and to the need for better data, particularly in relation to the 700 young people.
The Deputy asked if we engage; we do. I had an extraordinary opportunity to meet the advisory council of EPIC who are young people who have been in foster care who represent the interests of those in foster care, and I will continue to engage with them. That may go some way to answering the Deputy's question.
EPIC does play a wonderful role as an advocate for those in foster care and giving young people a platform to have their say. The role it plays is fantastic.
Following on from that, will this year's budget extend the care leaver's package? Currently, unless someone is in education, the supports finish at the age of 18. Has the Minister considered, or has she costed, the extension of supports to 21 years or 23 years, so that being in education would not be the only criteria for supporting young people? There must be more criteria than merely being in education. Every young child deserves a second chance.
Those are excellent questions. I understand that is being considered and will revert to the Deputy more specifically on this. The Deputy's questions relate to supports, including financial and educational, for care leavers. She also indicated concerns over where they go, where they live and so on. We have taken some significant steps for the 9% who leave care and are at the most pronounced risk of entering unsuitable accommodation due to the complexity of their support needs.
They are being included for the first time in the category of funding under the capital assistance scheme to recognise those complex needs. My Department has worked with Tusla and approved housing bodies, AHBs, to identify where housing that will be used for those care leavers who have more complex needs and that will allow them to be supported while living independently can be accessed and set up. At the end of 2018, some 30 properties had been acquired, 20 more were sale agreed, while ten young people were in tenancy under the scheme with more to follow.
