Madam, – I am in some way saddened by the emotive journalistic approach employed by publications like yours in reports on the childcare system (Opinion, July 31st).
I have worked as a child protection social worker for almost 30 years and consider myself privileged.
There are approximately 5,400 children in the care of the State. The majority of these children are respectful, capable, interesting people who develop, grow and achieve goals, in line with their peers.
They make Holy Communion, do their exams, go to college, go on holidays, wear trendy clothes, fall in love and have families of their own.
Unfortunately they cannot be reared in the families they are born to, usually because they cannot keep them safe.
Most of these children are being cared for in foster families who love them as if they were their own, who support them through the joys and challenges of infancy, adolescence and on to adulthood.
A small minority of these children, I would estimate 100 in the country at any given time, present significant behavioural difficulties that pose a challenge to the system.
These children have serious personality, educational and emotional difficulties that early intervention and therapeutic services would have difficulty resolving. Of course as a nation we must provide a high level of care and protection for these children.
But when you are reporting on the dysfunctional system, please do not forget about the functionality of that system and about the 5,400 children (and their families, both foster and biological) who grow, develop and achieve in the same way as all of the children in our nation. – Yours, etc,