Foster care supports - State needs to step up

THE role played by foster carers in Irish society tends to be invisible even though more than 5,000 children depend on them. It’s a task that requires sensitivity and flexibility if a caring bond is to be forged successfully.

Thus, it is a matter of some concern that foster carers increasingly either have to arrange or supervise weekend access visits for the families of fostered children because, apart from a limited private operation, no out-of-hours state-run social work service exists.

The problem can be aggravated because there is no room for flexibility on the terms and conditions of such an arrangement when access is ordered through the courts. Indeed, if the court orders access to children, the issue is so inflexible that foster parents themselves risk being held in contempt of court if they fail to carry out the order.

There is an onus on the Government to resolve this vexed question. It should certainly heed the warning by the Irish Foster Care Association that this intolerable scenario could be a cause of resentment between the child’s family and a foster parent.

The bottom line is that it should not be left to foster families to fill the void created because social work agencies do not provide supervision out of hours.

Clearly, this situation is unsatisfactory.