Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, for taking this Topical Issue. After-care is a relatively new development in the long history of State care for children. While the delivery of after-care is provided for in the terms of the Child Care Act 1991, whether it happens is solely at the discretion of the State. Further after-care is not defined by law. The quality and nature of after-care supports and services varies from area to area and from child to child. Some children fare better than others in getting continued support from the HSE, which is over-burdened and financially stretched. The term "corporate parent", which was used some years ago by the then Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs to refer to the State's responsibilities to children in State care, feeds into negative perceptions of a cold and distant parent who is operating on the basis of financial concerns rather than doing the right thing in the best interests of the child.

When young people leave care, the move often comes too soon. CSO figures indicate that on average, offspring continue to enjoy the supports and comforts offered in the family home until the age of 25. The picture is different and rather bleak for children in care. Their preparations for leaving care begin at the age of 16 and they formally leave care at the age of 18. While further supports may be made available to young adults leaving care, they often reject further intrusion in their lives and decline any form of after-care support. Those who avail of such supports often find they are limited in nature and scope. Current HSE after-care practice falls far short of fulfilling the diverse needs of young adults when they are perhaps at their most vulnerable. Outcomes for such young adults are poor. They are more likely to have poor educational attainment, engage in criminal activity, get involved in prostitution, attempt suicide or abuse substances. Those are just some of the many pitfalls they face. We must act to prevent these poor results. We must put in place a mechanism that will make a difference for these children.

Last night, I met a young girl who has been in 25 different foster homes. Luckily, she has met foster parents who are making a difference in her life. Now that she has reached the age at which her care finishes, all the wonderful work that has been done in recent months will be wiped away and she will be put out into the wide world. Seven members of her family are in foster care. She has no support anywhere. I ask the Minister to ensure something is done in her Department to extend the after-care service. I have also met people with experience in this area who are involved in the After Residential Care Trust. They know what it is about, having been involved in after-care for all of their lives. They are trying to meet the demand that exists, but they are not getting financial support from anyone. The young lady I met last night was bubbly and enthusiastic about everything life could offer. It struck me that if we cannot look after this girl, we are not doing what we should be doing with regard to after-care services.

There is an urgent need to meet the needs that exist in this regard. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past, when young people were sent into rented accommodation and moved from house to house and no one was responsible for looking after them. I ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to examine this very serious situation. I call on her to do everything possible in the instance I have mentioned. I believe a step-down facility should apply to the payments that are made to foster carers. That would enable them, slowly but surely, to move away from the young person and give him or her the responsibility that is necessary. At the moment, the payments are cut off and that is the end of the story. That is not good enough.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Wall for raising this important topic. Many changes have been made in the after-care area to deal with the precise situation he described. Clearly, it is completely unsatisfactory that the young woman he met had 25 placements. If she has found a stable placement, we should be in a position to support her, even if she has reached the age of 18. I ask the Deputy to bring the details of her case to my attention. While the vast majority of children in care have stable placements, a small cohort of children have the kind of multiple placement experience he described. We need to put a great deal of attention and supports into working with young people in such circumstances.

Young people who leave State care are entitled to advice, guidance and practical support. It should be developed in partnership with those who know them, including social workers, key workers and foster parents. A needs assessment should be carried out before a young person leaves care to identify his or her accommodation, financial support, social networks, training and education needs as he or she is about to leave care. That is in place. Obviously, a vulnerable group of young people leaving care may have had a short-term placement, or may have been in residential care, shortly before reaching the age of 18. Children who come into care in their mid teens or late teens may not have developed the kinds of relationships with staff or after-care workers that help to ensure there are good outcomes.

It is important to realise that the vast majority of children who are in care - 91% of them - are living in foster homes. Many of them continue to live with their foster families, and receive ongoing financial support and advice, when they reach the age of 18. I can advise Deputy Wall that at the end of last year, some 639 young people who had left care were supported financially to remain living with their foster carers. We have changed the policy. I would be very sensitive to that policy. I agree that the State support provided to a young person should not stop just because he or she has reached the age of 18. Young people who do not have to face the transition described by the Deputy do not have to leave their foster carers at the age of 18. Many of them, in addition to having access to an after-care worker, receive their key supports from their foster carers. That is the ideal situation. Young people who do not have such family support should be helped to find accommodation in supported lodgings, sheltered housing or independent accommodation. The core eligible age range - from 18 to 21 - can be extended to 23 if the young person is in education or training.

I have set out the policy as it exists at present. There have been many changes in recent months and years. I agree with Deputy Wall that after-care did not get the kind of attention it needed in previous years. As a result of the efforts of young people and of organisations like Empowering People in Care, there has been a change in Government policy and there is now a greater focus on after-care. Since I was appointed as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I have asked for more information on this group. We did not have statistics at national level about the number of young people who stayed living with their foster parents, for example, or who continued in education. Now that we are getting those figures at national level, we are in a better position to plan how we can do the best for these children.

At the end of December 2012, some 1,457 young people were in receipt of an after-care service. Some 1,073 of them were between the ages of 18 and 21. Some 384 young people over the age of 21 were receiving some aspect of after-care support. Given that young people in care often get stereotyped about their care experiences, it is interesting to note that after the age of 18, some 61.1% of those young people were in some form of education or training and some 55.8% of them were in full-time education. I accept that obviously means almost 40% of them were not in education. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that 55% of those who leave care go on to further education. They should get the range of services outlined by the Deputy. It is understandable that some young people may not want to continue to receive State services and are reluctant to engage with them.

Even if young people leave a particular service, they can come back in and avail of it again even if they drop out for a year. We have made that very clear. With the increasing consultation with young people, they are increasingly aware of their rights and the access they can have to services.

We also have an aftercare implementation group working at national level developing protocols, which are very important, with the Department of Social Protection, mental health services, primary care in the HSE and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government so we are trying to build up an increased awareness. Indeed the Ombudsman for Children in her recent report spoke about the need for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to be more sensitive to the needs of young people who leave care when dealing with housing. We are developing protocols with those.

I will conclude by saying that I am currently examining legislative options to strengthen the provision of aftercare. I hope to introduce an amendment to the Child and Family Support Agency Bill on Committee Stage to ensure that children who have been in care have a legislative right to an assessment of needs.

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for the detailed reply she has given. It offers hope to the people in the cases I mentioned and those I have on file. Everything the Minister has said is positive and I greatly welcome it but it does not seem to be getting out on the ground where these people are. That is a significant problem. The big question is how we are going to do that. If we are to be successful, and I want to put everything I have in support of the Minister in trying to reach that goal, the one thing we must do is give something to these children in terms of the next step. When I spoke to the young lady last night, we talked about whether she got on that first step of education. She must go for treatment before she gets there. It is her ambition to get on that first step. It was wonderful to see that she had that and is willing to follow up on it.

I welcome what the Minister said but I want to see it in the area and involvement in all the areas because together the foster parents, the children and the relevant State agencies can make a success of this. There is a considerable amount of work attached to it and there is a significant problem involved in getting children to go in the right direction but it is possible to have a successful conclusion. I will bring the cases to the attention of the Minister. One issue was that this family of seven has not been together in over six months. This girl is the elder child at this stage and there is a need to show her that there are family connections as well as the wonderful family she is in the care of at the moment.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The issue of contact with natural family is dependent on a range of factors and I do not want to comment on an individual case. One must always ask whether it is in the best interests of the young person to have contact because there may be cases where it is not. I want to make that point. Sometimes young people deserve a second chance with another family and it sounds like that young woman has got that as well.

I assure the Deputy that there are increasing numbers of aftercare workers working directly with young people and there is an increasing budget. We are spending many more millions of euro. One of the reasons we have difficulties in connection with budgeting is because so much more money is going into the aftercare service. Over 1,457 young people are in receipt of an aftercare service. The situation has changed dramatically. It has been acknowledged by those working in the field that young people over the age of 18 are getting more supports than they ever received previously. As I say, there can always been an individual situation where for some reason it has not worked out as well as one would have liked. I recognise the Deputy's commitment and interest in this area. It is very important. We should support these young people, who have been in care for several years, after they leave care to help them to continue in education, training or employment and give them supports because they can be very vulnerable.