Ms Kate Duggan:

We have through our strategic plan for residential care identified the need for a continuum of placements. Without going through the history of high-support units, decisions were taken a number of years ago to close them. We are now conscious that HIQA is the regulator in terms of registering, inspecting and monitoring our residential units. Rather than talking about a specialised or high-support unit, and I have already referenced the need for addiction, mental health and disability services in specific cases, we also recognise that some of the children and young people in our care need more therapeutic-led placements. They need placements that are single occupancy because they find it difficult to live with other young people. They need placements that are closer to home to allow them to work towards reunification. What we do not want is an association in the sense that just because you have been in special care, you need a special placement when you come out. We want a variety of types of residential placements.

We see very young people who are demonstrating harmful sexualised behaviour. We need a specialised type of placement for them. We have those placements but will need more, based on what our data is telling us. We see young people who are finding it difficult to manage in foster care even though they are very young or of a particular age. We need more therapeutic-type placements for those young people. With all the investment we got last year and the future investment we hope to get, we are looking at designing placements across that continuum of need. That welcomes a whole-of-government approach that considers housing and health in the context of the types of placements required for young people with more complex needs.