Mr. Fred McBride:

On behalf of the Child and Family Agency, I welcome this opportunity to offer our views on the heads of the aftercare Bill 2014. In this statement, we wish to cover three main areas - progress in the development of aftercare services to date, information on current levels of service activity, and comments on specific aspects of the heads of the aftercare Bill. I am joined by my colleague Ms Siobhan Mugan, national policy development manager for alternative care.
On the progress of the development of aftercare services to date, I am pleased to say they are a key priority in the Child and Family Agency's business plan for 2014. The agency is committed to further improving and developing aftercare services and building on the commitments of the national leaving and aftercare policy, which was issued in 2011. The aim of this programme is to standardise the delivery of leaving and aftercare services across the country so that every young person who is eligible will be provided with services to meet his or her assessed and identified needs. In order achieve this, the work will be underpinned by inter-agency co-operation in the following areas. There will be standardisation and equity of service in accordance with assessed need, workforce development, the development of positive outcomes and outcome measures for young care leavers, and timely and accessible information. This will ensure resources are deployed to maximum effect and that a consistent service is provided in partnership with other statutory and non-statutory agencies.
A number of specific areas of action have been prioritised. These are the development of a dedicated aftercare service in each of the 17 functional areas of the Child and Family Agency; the standardisation of a range of financial packages to care leavers and care providers such as foster carers; the introduction of aftercare steering committees at local level; and the further development of the Child and Family Website, www.tusla.ie, to include a section dedicated to the provision of information on aftercare services in Ireland.
With regard to service activity, the leaving and aftercare services staff complement is currently 44 dedicated whole-time equivalents, with additional services provided through service level agreements with Focus Ireland, Clarecare, Don Bosco and the Simon Community. While there are vacancies at present, these have been approved for filling, the recruitment process has been concluded, and preferred candidates are now being employed.
The following points set out key information relating to service provision. There are currently 6,490 children in care as of January 2014. Almost 1,500 young people over 18 years of age are in receipt of an aftercare service, representing 70% of care leavers eligible for a service. Approximately 45% of these young people remained with their foster carers beyond the age of 18 years, which compares favourably with neighbouring jurisdictions. Some 60% of care leavers, as of January this year, were in some form of education or training. This also compares favourably with neighbouring jurisdictions, where my experience is that the figure can be as low as 30%. The support provided through aftercare can range from advice and support by an allocated worker to a financial package, which may include financial support to foster carers, a living allowance and travel costs.
With regard to the view of the Child and Family Agency on the proposed heads of the aftercare Bill, we welcome the proposed enhancement to the legislation on aftercare services and the agency is committed to supporting young people on leaving care. In respect of eligibility criteria for the service, under the agency's current national policy the following criteria are applied. Eighteen to 21 years is the core eligible age range for aftercare services. The second criterion is that a young person has been in the statutory care of the Child and Family Agency for a minimum period of 12 months on his or her 16th birthday. The third is that, where a young person is in the statutory care of the Child and Family Agency after the age of 16, he or she must be in care for a minimum period of 12 consecutive months prior to his or her 18th birthday.

Aftercare services are available to all those eligible, irrespective of which care sector they have been in - foster care, residential care or high-support. The length of time for receiving aftercare support is dictated by an ongoing needs assessment, up to 21 years, unless the person is in education, in which case the Child and Family Agency can support until 23 years. Until the young person reaches the age of 18 years he or she is still considered a minor under the Child Care Act 1991 and any issues pertaining to his or her welfare and risk are matters for the social work child protection and welfare teams. On occasion, a young person may continue to be in care until his or her 18th birthday, but may reside at his or her family home as part of the aftercare plan. These young people may remain eligible for aftercare advice and guidance up to the age of 21 years if they meet the above criteria. We welcome discussion on any proposed changes to these criteria and the implications thereof.

This section of the Bill does not in the first instance emphasise the importance of the assessment of need and how it relates and links to the level of services required to meet the need. Although a young person may meet the eligibility criteria, he or she may not, following assessment, require a service. Therefore we suggest the heads of Bill reflect a logical sequence of assessing the needs of those who are eligible for a service, the development of a multi-agency plan to meet those needs and the commitment of the relevant agencies and services to deliver the plan.

The Child and Family Agency is tasked with the provision of care and protection to children in the State who are assessed as needing it. However, to meet a child's needs in full requires a multi-agency response. The Child and Family Agency has the lead in the area of child protection and welfare but does not have a lead in other domains of the child or young person's life, such as health, education, housing and accommodation and income support. To meet the holistic needs of the child and young adult, all agencies must work together to ensure that those basic rights to services are met.

The provision of aftercare services is highly dependent on the co-operation of Departments, the Health Service Executive, HSE, housing authorities, educational institutions and non-statutory agencies in order that the young person's aftercare plan can be fully implemented. The agency therefore advises that the proposed legislation which provides for the development of a leaving and aftercare plan for every young person who meets the criteria can only be delivered in a system of inter-agency co-operation through the development of robust memorandums of understanding and joint working protocols. The duties of the heads of Bill all fall to the Child and Family Agency. There is an opportunity to place a duty to co-operate on the other agencies and services.

The proposed enhancement of the Child and Family Agency's responsibilities within the heads of Bill is welcome. The introduction of such legislation will play an important role in increasing the numbers of young people who receive support and assistance on leaving the care system. The Child and Family Agency is committed to developing the highest possible standards in the provision of these services, work which has already commenced. The focus is on ensuring young people are prepared and supported in making the transition to adult life through further educational attainment, suitable secure accommodation and the provision of timely therapeutic services by specialist services when required.

The agency recently published its initial statement of purpose, entitled Ireland's Child and Family Agency: Towards a Shared Purpose. The aim of this document is to enable a wide-ranging consultation and debate regarding the priorities and key objectives for the agency in the preparation of its first three-year plan, which will be published in the summer of 2014. We are inviting partners and stakeholders to critique this document to ensure the priorities outlined are the top priorities for Ireland's children. Consultation with the service providers and, in particular, young people in care and aftercare are and will continue to be an important part of this process.