Fosterers forced to supervise at parents’ visits

A LACK of weekend support for foster parents means they often end up having to supervise access visits with the children’s biological parents.

The issue arises when access is ordered through the courts, and there is no flexibility on the terms and conditions of the arrangement.

The concerns were raised by the Irish Foster Carers Association (IFCA) which is calling for out-of-hours social work services.

Director of the IFCA, Deirdre McTeigue, said court-ordered access was inflexible and foster families could be held in contempt of court if they do not carry out the order.

“If access is court-ordered it has to be organised and supervised.

“This is the norm and it usually works out fine, but it should not be left up to foster families and it is unfair on them,” she said.

Ms McTeigue said problems arise if there are feelings of resentment between the child’s family and a foster parent.

She said while a private company, Five Rivers, provided emergency care placements, it did not provide supervision services and was very limited as it only had 10 places around the country.

Another issue, said Ms McTeigue, is that new families hoping to foster are waiting long periods because there are no social workers to assess and train them.

Although 270 new posts have been promised by the Government, Ineke Durville, president of Irish Association of Social Workers said she had seen no evidence that new posts had been created.

Ms Durville said while temporary staff were being made permanent, there didn’t seem to be additional staff.

According to latest HSE figures, 85% of children in care have a care plan – essentially a blueprint for the child’s care.

However, Ms McTeigue said a random survey of 100 foster families carried out the by IFCA last year revealed that just four out of 10 children had a formal care plan.

“We were surprised. It was higher than we thought – but it was just a random sample,” she said.

Ms McTeigue said aftercare for children in state care and who turn 18 was a continuing cause for concern.

“Some do stay with their foster families but they are relying entirely on the goodwill of the family.

“The problem is they want their freedom. So if they are offered an independent place to live they will take it but it is not always the best option and you can find after a year or two it will have broken down,” said Ms McTeigue.

Ms McTeigue said young girls were particularly vulnerable and a high percentage ended up becoming pregnant not long after they leave care.

The Irish Association of Young People in Care said the provision of services depended on where a young person lives.

“There are no budgets ring-fenced for aftercare so when funding is reduced it is easy to cut back on providing services for those in aftercare because there is no responsibility on the HSE to do so,” the association’s director Jennifer Gargan said.