Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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120. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs why aftercare provision is unequal and inconsistent across different counties and regions; the details of any analysis that he, the Health Service Executive, or Túsla, the Child and Family Agency, has undertaken on the consistency of aftercare service provision; and the reason there is an exclusion clause for young persons who are admitted to the care system at 16 and 17 years of age. [40747/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Under the current National Leaving and Aftercare Policy of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, all young people leaving care who have been in care for 12 months on their 16th birthday or for 12 consecutive months prior to their 18th birthday are entitled to an aftercare plan. I have recently brought legislation to the Oireachtas to put this entitlement to an aftercare plan, with some improvements to the eligibility criteria, on a statutory footing to make it an explicit duty to assess a young person's needs on leaving care.

The transition to independent adulthood can be challenging for many young people and a key factor in achieving success is ensuring that assessment, preparation and planning for leaving care begins in the years prior to leaving care and continues as part of the care planning process. This work is based on collaboration with the young person, their carers and partner agencies to generate an aftercare plan that is specific to the individual young person's needs.

The supports provided to the young person will be based on their assessed needs. The needs of young people vary widely. Financial support is one element of this support. Advice, guidance, support and signposting are key elements of this service and these supports are available to all care leavers. For those young people who are not in training or education, aftercare services have a key role in providing support to them in liaising with the relevant departments and agencies in accessing financial assistance, employment opportunities, training or supporting them to return to education.

Tusla became aware that a situation had evolved historically where there were uneven and different rates of financial supports being made available for young people leaving care around the country. As part of the implementation of its national policy, Tusla addressed this inequitable approach and has introduced a Standardised National Aftercare Allowance of €300 per week.

The introduction of this aftercare allowance demonstrates Tusla's commitment to an aftercare service that offers consistent supports to ensure that young people leaving care and aftercare reach their potential in adult life. Tusla is also conducting a review of other aftercare supports provided by external bodies such as supported lodgings and aftercare workers. I was pleased to be able to allocate significant extra resources to Tusla for 2016. As well as providing extra resources for unmet needs and risk prevention, this extra funding will also go towards strengthening aftercare supports and will facilitate improving equity of access to services in areas nationally.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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121. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the joint protocol that was developed outlining that care leavers would be prioritised on the social housing list is being implemented by local authorities; the steps that are being taken to ensure the implementation of this protocol; the number of social housing units in each local authority that have been provided to care leavers since the drafting of the joint protocol; and the percentage of care leavers who have sought social housing and who have been facilitated since the drafting of the protocol. [40748/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As these are operational matters, I have asked Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to respond directly to the Deputy with the most up-to-date information.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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122. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs why young persons who disengage and who are the most vulnerable are less likely to receive aftercare supports in the care system; and how it will be ensured that young persons who are not engaging in education and training receive essential aftercare supports in the future. [40776/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Aftercare is the term used to describe the planning and support put in place to meet the needs of a young person who is leaving statutory care at 18 years of age. It is essential that all young people leaving care and provided with the type of transitional support that their individual situation requires. The most important requirements for young people leaving care are for continuity of relationships; secure, suitable accommodation as well as further education, employment or training.

Overall, of the approximately 6,400 children in State care, 93% are in a foster care family placement. A sizable number of young people, on reaching 18 in foster care remain living with their foster carers, either full-time, or part-time if they leave home to continue in 3rd level education.

The most vulnerable group of young people are those leaving residential care or short-term foster care placements. Children, who come into care late, in their mid to late teens, may not have developed the relationships with staff or aftercare workers that help them achieve good outcomes. Young people who do not have family support from a foster carer or family base are assisted in finding accommodation in supported lodgings, sheltered housing or independent accommodation and encourage and supported financially in furthering their training and education.

As the Deputy is aware, the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015 is currently progressing through the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Bill obliges the Child and Family Agency, following as assessment of need, to prepare an aftercare plan identifying relevant aftercare supports for an eligible child or eligible young person. The legislative provisions regarding aftercare are being strengthened in response to concerns that there was insufficient focus in this area and that such planning was not taking place on a properly structured and consistent basis.

The transition to independent adulthood can be challenging for many young people and a key factor in achieving success is ensuring that assessment, preparation and planning for leaving care begins in the years prior to leaving care and continues as part of the care planning process. This work is based on collaboration with the young person, their carers and partner agencies to generate an aftercare plan that is specific to the individual young person’s needs. In instances where a young person leaving care has experienced trauma and / or a developmental delay and is not yet ready to embrace independent living, due regard will be given within the aftercare planning process to linkages with appropriate, specialist, adult services.

Some young people, on leaving care, declare themselves independent of state services and are reluctant to engage. As adults, they are entitled to refuse an aftercare service if that is their wish.

However, the current Bill provides that a young person may reengage with the Agency up until they are 20 years old (inclusive) to request an aftercare plan where none was previously prepared. Also, the Bill provides that the Agency shall review the operation of an aftercare plan when requested to do so by a young person (or someone acting on their behalf) where

(i) There has been a significant change in the circumstances of the young person or

(ii) The assistance being provided under the aftercare plan does not meet the need identified or

(iii) Additional support requirements for the young person have arisen.

Also, it is current practice for the Child and Family Agency to continue to attempt to engage with particularly vulnerable young people and this practice will continue.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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123. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question Number 145 of 16 October 2014 which highlights that 43% of young persons in detention had an assigned social worker, while 35% of young persons in detention were subject to a recent care order under the Child Care Act 1991, the reason these young persons are not an eligible group for an aftercare plan under the Aftercare Bill. [40777/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2015 is currently progressing through the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Bill is primarily concerned with aftercare – the planning and support put in place to meet the needs of a young person who is leaving statutory care at 18 years of age, to assist him or her in making the transition to independent living. The Bill obliges the Child and Family Agency, following an assessment of need, to prepare an aftercare plan identifying relevant aftercare supports for an eligible child or eligible young person.

The Bill builds on the existing provisions of section 45 of the Child Care Act 1991 and obliges the Agency:

(i) to prepare an aftercare plan for an eligible child before they reach the age of 18,

(ii) to prepare an aftercare plan, on request, for an eligible adult aged 18, 19 or 20, and

(iii) in relation to an eligible adult to review the operation of an aftercare plan where there has been a change in that adult’s circumstances or additional needs have arisen.

An eligible child means a child aged 16 years or over who has spent at least 12 months in the care of the State between the ages of 13 and (up to) 18 years old. An eligible adult means a young person aged 18, 19 or 20 who has spent at least 12 months in the care of the State between the ages of 13 and 18 years old.

Where an eligible child is no longer in the care of the Child and Family Agency, that child or a person acting on their behalf (parent, guardian or person acting in loco parentis) may request an aftercare plan from the Agency.

For clarity, any child or young person who meets these criteria will be eligible for an aftercare plan. Young people are not excluded from such planning on the basis of having spent time in detention.