Ms Fidelma Guinan:

The greatest number of people on my caseload are aged 18 and 23 and are in the various stages of aftercare support. They always tell us that as soon as they turn 18, it is a case of it being up to them to take up support and that aftercare is voluntary - they did not answer their phone for the past three weeks so, therefore, they missed their meeting and might then miss an aftercare payment. There is so much pressure and responsibility on the day they turn 18. The language relating to aftercare needs to change and the support around aftercare definitely needs to change.

A new aftercare policy is being drawn up. The Minister said that, from September, all young people will be entitled to an aftercare plan. While an aftercare worker will be guaranteed to those leaving care, there is no guarantee that aftercare workers will be allocated to those leaving foster care. From what we can tell, the policy is saying that they will have access to a drop-in service but they will not be guaranteed access to aftercare workers. We think this needs to be changed as well and we recommend that this take place.