Mr. Wayne Stanley:

The core issue is that there are no placements available for young people to deal with their addiction, which would prevent court orders placing them into special care. Special care is dealing with the substantive issue, that is, their addiction, as a result. A high support unit or residential placement, appropriate to a young person with care experience, could prevent young people ending up in special care. What is happening is that special care is taking on that role. We all know the pressure special care is under. In the context of all the other pressures on the system, the concern is that children may not be seen to reach the standard of requiring a court order. These young people are standing on the brink of being abandoned altogether.