Govt has 'given up' on family homelessness and taken step back on child mental health

The Children’s Rights Alliance report card awarded its two lowest ‘E’ grades to the Government for its progress to date on tackling family homelessness and mental health. Pictured left to right are Morrigan (8) and Durragh (11) at Government Buildings launching the report card. Photo: Maxwells

The Government has “simply given up on providing houses”,  a children's advocacy group has said in a scathing report on family homelessness.

The Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA) 14th annual report card graded the extent to which the Government has kept its promises to children and young people in its current tenure.

Retired judge Catherine McGuinness chaired an independent panel that found that the Government is taking “unacceptable steps in the wrong direction” in tackling family homelessness. The report card awarded its two lowest ‘E’ grades to the Government for its progress to date on tackling family homelessness and mental health.

An E grade denotes an “unacceptable” level of progress, “taking steps in the wrong direction”, with “no positive impact on children”.

Some key statistics from this year's #ReportCard2022 include:
🔸#AlternativeEducation
🔸#CAMHS waiting lists
🔸Children in homelessness
🔸The potential of the #EUChildGuarantee
🔸School Meals Programme
🔸#OnlineSafety for young people

Full report: https://t.co/pIJSRJBSbP pic.twitter.com/ti51oB67V9

— Children's Rights Alliance (@ChildRightsIRL) February 21, 2022

Some 2,451 children were experiencing homelessness by the end of 2021, 300 more than at the beginning of the year, with almost one in four children living in emergency accommodation in Dublin for more than two years.

“The Government over many years has gone on with this policy of relying entirely on private developers to provide housing. We have simply given up, except in very few cases, on providing houses either through the government itself or through local authorities,” said Ms McGuinness.

An E grade for mental health focuses on the government’s commitment to end the admission of children into adult psychiatric facilities. Twenty-five young people were placed in adult wards in 2021.

The CRA highlights that the General Scheme of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 is a “retrograde step”, as it will put on a statutory footing the practice of admitting children to adult facilities.

Mark Smyth, past president of the Psychological Society of Ireland, said the pressure on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is “abundantly clear”, as 2,384 children are waiting on appointments, 170 waiting for over a year.

“If traumatised children enter into a traumatised and under-resourced system, we shouldn't expect the outcomes in children that they deserve. We don't need more media soundbites acknowledging what we all know, that there's a recruitment and retention crisis. We know what the problems are, and we have the solutions, but not the funding or sense of urgency to rectify this national emergency,” he said.

The highest and only A grade was awarded for the commencement of the Harassment and Harmful Communications Act. However, overall Online Safety secured a ‘C-’. The report highlights that 84% of 8-12-year-olds are on social media platforms, despite current age restrictions.

We are delighted to launch Report Card 2022 online!

Join us and follow the hashtag #ReportCard2022.

📗You can now download the full report here: https://t.co/pIJSRJBSbP pic.twitter.com/3aHbvusPM4

— Children's Rights Alliance (@ChildRightsIRL) February 21, 2022

The CRA say the Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Bill is in need of two key inclusions - an individual complaints mechanism, and an Online Safety Commissioner.

“It’s now time to end the era of self-regulation when it comes to big tech, but without an individual complaints mechanism, we believe that children and young people still won’t know where to turn or be able to access an effective and timely remedy when things go wrong online,” said Tanya Ward, CRA chief executive.

“It’s critical that the legislation provides for an effective complaints mechanism and an Online Safety Commissioner with robust powers, comparable to the Australian e-commissioner so that online tech providers can’t be let off the hook,” she added.