Expert: Child ‘exports’ a disgrace

IT IS a “national disgrace” that some children are being sent overseas on care placements, a conference was told yesterday.

Geoffrey Shannon, a child law expert and Government-appointed child rapporteur, made his comments at a conference jointly organised by Barnardos and the Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development to mark the 10th anniversary of the Children Act 2001.

It emerged earlier this week that 15 children in state care have been placed in overseas facilities. Mr Shannon said “exporting our children” would likely be the subject of future tribunals.

Mr Shannon said there were still gaps between the child welfare system and the criminal justice system, with young people suffering from emotional and behavioural problems often not sufficiently catered for in the current system.

“Red flag issues” such as poor school attendance are not always addressed, he said, nor is “the corrosive effect that alcohol has on families”.

Mr Shannon also said new legislation should be changed. The Childcare Amendment Act 2011 does not make aftercare provision mandatory and also allows for HSE discretion regarding the calling of family welfare conferences.

It is understood the Government is to enact the new Childcare Amendment Act 2011 in the new year, although prior to that there will have to be inspections of special care units by the Health Information and Quality Authority.

That will place the special care system on a statutory footing. Speaking yesterday about the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Children Act 2001, Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said it had meant much fewer young people had entered the criminal justice system than would otherwise have been the case, with the result that detention was seen as a measure of last resort.

The minister also said that tackling youth crime was a key priority for the Government, with increased focus on continuing education and community supports.

Superintendent Colette Quinn, director of the Garda Office for Children and Youth Affairs, told the conference that 72% of the 17,986 young people referred to her service last year were admitted to programmes.

On this year’s trends she said 32% of referrals were due to public order offences, where alcohol would have been a key factor. She said a further 7% to 8% would be linked to criminal damage, again mostly linked to alcohol.

Yesterday’s conference also heard from Michelle Shannon, the head of the Irish Youth Justice Service, who said that since the establishment of that body five years ago there had been a fall in the number of young people detained and a reduction in offences.

She said there had been a “dramatic reduction” in the rate of detention, from a high of 120 people down to 80 people.