Sir, – Appearing before the Committee for Public Accounts last week (September 30th), Tusla once again put on record its concerns about the impact further cost saving measures would have on frontline services and care placements.
At EPIC, Empowering People in Care, we see the consequences of gaps in the systems through our work with children in care and young care leavers.
We work with children held in special care because suitable onward placements are not available, and children living in emergency arrangements who don’t know where they will go next.
A system under pressure has real consequences for children and young people in care. Too often experienced as traumatic disruption to their relationships, education and wellbeing.
RM Block
Where the State assumes the role of a parent, that responsibility carries a fundamental duty to protect, support and nurture. EPIC called for an additional investment in Tusla in the budget.
However, sustained investment in Tusla must be matched by a cross-governmental commitment to meeting the needs of care-experienced youth.
Children in care and young care leavers need safe, stable places to live and timely access to health services – including mental health and trauma informed therapeutic interventions – and adequate aftercare and educational supports as they transition from care at 18.
The Government asking departments and agencies to find savings and savings may be necessary but children and young people who rely on the State for their care cannot carry the cost of these decisions. Government spending must reflect the State’s responsibility to them and provide the investment needed to meet it. – Yours, etc,
WAYNE STANLEY,
CEO,
EPIC Empowering People in Care,
Dublin 7.
