Children in care

Sir, – In reference to Jack Power’s article “Tusla signals emergency placements for children in care a ‘risk’ for agency” (News, July 19th), Barnardos strongly agrees that tackling the impact of poverty, mental ill-health, addiction and trauma on vulnerable families and their children is complex work. An impactful solution will require significant investment. As the priorities for Budget 2024 are formulated, the Government needs to strongly consider the range of supports required to respond to the needs of vulnerable children.

In this context, Barnardos considers that Budget 2024 needs to invest in targeted family support services delivered by the State and the voluntary sector. Such services will support children to remain in their family homes and in their communities, reducing the likelihood of children needing care and protection from the State. When children are in the care of the State, it is incumbent on the State to ensure the timely delivery of services that support children to return home as soon as it is safe to do so and, if this is unlikely to occur, to ensure that there is a holistic care plan in place to ensure that the child’s needs for care and safety are met. The latter requires partnership across a number of State agencies – Tusla, the HSE, Department of Education, Department of Housing and Department of Justice. – Yours, etc,

SUZANNE CONNOLLY,

CEO,