Written answers

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Departmental Programmes

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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30. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which her Department has been in a position to strategically examine and assess any specific deficiencies in respect of child care, youth support and/or development services with particular reference to identification of any problems arising at the earliest possible stage; if she is in a position to put in place adequate supports to assist children or teenagers who might be vulnerable; the extent to which she and her Department continue to liaise with specific groups in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14010/14]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The recent establishment of the Child and Family Agency represents a central pillar of our strategy to support children, young people and their families. It delivers on a key Programme for Government commitment and represents one of the largest and most important public sector reforms undertaken by this Government, bringing together some 4,000 staff and a budget of some €609 million to provide a dedicated focus on services for children & families. The formation of the Agency brought together key services relevant to children and families including child protection and welfare services, and services previously provided by the Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board.

My Department supports a range of education welfare services which are delivered through the Child and Family Agency to support children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage and early school leaving. The Agency has a statutory remit to support children and young people to participate in and benefit from the education system.

My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country. Targeted supports for disadvantaged, marginalised and at risk young people are provided through the Special Projects for Youth Scheme, the Young Peoples Facilities and Services Fund, Rounds 1 and 2, Local Drugs Task Force Projects and certain other programmes including the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme and Youth Information Centres. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 400,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout the country. In 2014, funding of €50.530m including €750,000 capital funding is being provided by my Department for these schemes.

My Department is undertaking a comprehensive Value for Money Review of youth funding schemes that support services to disadvantaged or at-risk young people. The findings of this review will shape the future direction of youth funding provided by my Department and will aim to ensure quality effective value-for-money services that secure best outcomes for young people.

My Department is also developing a new youth strategy. The new youth strategy will take into account the changes in the demographic situation and in the profiles of young people and the evidence about what works best in the provision of youth services to meet young people's needs. It will, inter alia, promote co-ordination between government departments and youth sector organisations with a view to maximising the effectiveness of the State funding available to support services for young people in future years.

The Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme 2013-2016 is being implemented by my Department, in partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies who are co-funding the programme's total allocation of €29.7m. The programme will deliver the Programme for Government commitment to adopt an area-based approach to child poverty, drawing on best international practice and existing services to break the cycle of child poverty where it is most deeply entrenched and improve the outcomes for children and young people. A total number of 13 areas have been approved to participate in the ABC programme.

Following on from consultations with 211 children and young people living in the care of the State in a number of locations around the country, I launched Listen to Our Voices: A Report of Consultations with Children Living in the Care of the State (2011). I invited children and young people who had taken part in the consultations to sit on a Voice of Children in Care Implementation Group and 18 children and young people became involved in the Group. They have met with my Department on a regular basis since May 2012 and last year the Group renamed itself TACTIC - Teenagers and Children Talking in Care.

The Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS) based in my Department since January 2012, is responsible for leading and driving reform in the youth justice area by focusing on diversion and rehabilitation, including greater use of community-based interventions, promotion of initiatives to deal with young people who offend, providing a safe and secure environment for detained young people and supporting their early re-integration into the community.

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