The lack of aftercare and support services for troubled children who leave special care units is seriously undermining the work of these units, a report has found.
Special care units, which were were set up on foot of court orders issued mainly by Mr Justice Peter Kelly in recent years, are aimed at providing a safe and therapeutic environment for non-offending children.
A report published yesterday by the Special Residential Services Board (SRSB), the State body responsible for advising the Government on issues relating to the detention of children, suggests that a placement in a special care unit has a positive impact on a young person's sense of wellbeing.
However, the units could be used to their full potential by placing greater emphasis on working with families and providing support services such as education, therapy and counselling for young people when they leave a unit, the report said.
It concluded: "Given that special care units invest so much in a young person, it is wrong that the young people should leave without there being a high level of support in place."
The study, conducted by the Centre for Social and Educational Research at the Dublin Institute of Technology, involved interviews with young people in care aged between 12 and 17, as well as family members and professionals.
It made a number of recommendations including:
Tight regulation of admission and discharge to special care units to ensure young people stay as short a time in detention as possible
Families with children in special care units require intensive and ongoing support, and to be meaningfully involved in the process
The current provision of aftercare and support services for young people leaving special care needs to be developed
Further research into outcomes for young people placed in special care units.
SRSB chief executive Roger Killeen said many young people were returning to circumstances similar to those they had left behind in the first place.
"There is still a need to adopt an integrated approach to aftercare if children are going to be helped in the long term."
The Minister of State with responsibility for children, Brian Lenihan, said the report indicated that special care units had the potential to equip troubled children with social skills, coping strategies and educational qualifications.
Speaking at the publication of the report, Catherine Carty of the Association of Young People in Care said it was imperative that children were actively involved in discussions about their future.
The report also found that young people who required residential interventions tended to come from socially disadvantaged communities and difficult home environments.
They typically had social or emotional problems that placed them at risk of circumstances such as criminalisation, drug abuse or neglect.
