Radical changes in the way services for homeless children are structured and accessed are recommended in a report to be published next month. Some 50 per cent of young people sleeping rough in Dublin are female, the report shows.
The report from the Forum on Youth Homelessness will call for changes in the way children contact out-of-hours social workers and recommend that contracts be drawn up between hostels for the homeless and funding agencies to ensure hostels provide services which meet the needs of homeless children, many of whom have to sleep rough in Dublin every night.
Father Peter McVerry, a campaigner for the homeless, said yesterday the procedure children had to go through to get a bed was "so awful" that many did not bother.
"They have to go to a Garda station at 8 p.m. but many of them don't want to have anything to do with the gardai. They could be there until 2 a.m. waiting to see an out-of-hours social worker who may have been called to see 10 children in 10 other Garda stations in the city. That puts people off and then if at 2 a.m. all the beds are full, that stops them going back another night," he said.
Father McVerry, who was a member of the Forum on Youth Homelessness, added that some hostels do not have the resources to deal with difficult children and instead bar them. "The irony is there are nights when there are empty beds in hostels but these children can't access them."
He believes hostels will have to adapt.
He estimates there are between 50 and 100 children under 18 sleeping rough every night in Dublin. "Almost every night the out-of-hours social workers are turning children away because they do not have beds available," he said.
"Now 50 per cent of homeless children are girls, whereas traditionally they were nearly all boys but the services haven't caught up, so girls are in a much more critical position," he said.
The Eastern Regional Health Authority said youth homelessness was an ongoing problem but it was working to resolve the difficulties. A 10-bed unit will open soon for under-16s and six aftercare flatlets will also be provided.
A spokesperson added that the placement of some children was difficult due to behavioural problems. "These children may sometimes find themselves excluded due to the disruption that they cause to other children and staff," she said.
"There is a six-bed facility being opened to provide out-of-hours service for children who find themselves excluded from facilities because of drug-related or behavioural problems," the spokesperson added.
The Forum on Youth Homelessness was established by the now restructured Eastern Health Board.