Barnardos call for funds for kids at risk

Barnardos has said there is an “urgent need” for more investment in mental health and social work supports for vulnerable children after a new report indicated some children in care were not receiving the services they need.

The latest Child Care Law Report, which detailed 30 childcare cases, highlighted some positive outcomes for children, but also indicated that in some cases the lack of suitable services is having a detrimental effect on young people.

In one example, a teenage boy who spent four years at the Boys Town facility in the US state of Omaha, by order of the Irish courts, returned to Ireland last summer to find no suitable secure placement was available. According to the report his behaviour regressed and he was absconding from his placement while using heroin and crack cocaine.