Image: Shutterstock/Piyawat Nandeenopparit Image: Shutterstock/Piyawat Nandeenopparit THERE HAS BEEN a consistent rise in the number of children living in State care and care leavers seeking supports in areas of homelessness, aftercare supports and placement breakdowns in the past 10 years.
Some 6,000 children live in care placements – either foster or residential care – supported by the State after it was deemed unsafe for them to remain in their family home. Aftercare was the third most frequent issue raised in advocacy cases with 94 people requiring supports in this area – 14% of the total number of cases in 2018.CEO of EPIC Terry Dignan put the rise in people seeking support from EPIC down to a “lack of resources” in the State care system which has lead to a greater demand for advocacy.
The average age across all cases was 19 years old, but the organisation saw a variety of ages, as low as five years old in cases involving children currently in care, and up to 84 years old for those with care experience. Another involved a 23-year-old who had fallen into homelessness in the west of Ireland and who had spent a period of time in residential care.
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