Lobbying
Page:
Breaking Through’s Submission
on Youth Justice. November, 2004:
Breaking Through’s welcomed
the opportunity to present a submission on Youth Justice to the
Project of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in
November, 2004. This submission aimed to ensure the youth
justice system in Ireland make a real difference to the lives of
young people at risk with whom it deals with by preventing them
from offending and offering a child centred approach to those that
do. Please click the link below to open & download the full submission, in Word
Document Format
 Breaking Through’s Submission
on Youth Justice. November, 2004:
Click
here to open & download, in Word Document Format.
Separated Children
(Uploaded 10/12/003)
Re: Service Provision for Unaccompanied Minors & Separated
Refugee Children.
Dear Editor
(The following submission was sent by BREAKING
THROUGH to all relevant Governmental Departments. )
I am writing on behalf of the Breaking Through all-Ireland
network to express our deep concern regarding the current provision
for Separated Refugee Children .
Breaking Through is an all-Ireland
network for practitioners working with young people at risk. Our members
are drawn from all geographical locations and from a wide range of
voluntary and statutory agencies including teachers, youth workers,
residential care workers, police, prison officers and drug educators.
In promoting best practice, Breaking Through is
committed to influencing policy development and service provision.
Breaking Through has during
the recent past held a forum on the needs of refugee separated children
. This was inclusive of the voluntary & statutory sectors , young
separated children and the general public.
We are calling on the relevant governmental departments
to tackle the obvious inequality that exists in services for unaccompanied
minors and the service for national Irish children . The UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child , Article 2 , clearly states that all children
are entitled to all the rights in the convention and therefore the
state must protect the child without any exception whatsoever.
This clearly is not the true picture . The 1996 Refugee
Act and the 1991 Child Care Act place statutory responsibility on the
Health Boards to provide for the care and welfare on separated children.
The key words in these legislations are “care” and
how we define care . It is widely accepted that the majority of these
children reside in large institutional type hostels , the very system
which has caused many problems for our national children in previous
decades. The staffing levels in these hostels are ridiculously low
and potentially placing these vulnerable children at risk.
The ad hoc approach to many facets of services for separated
children has to be challenged particularly the process of gaining citizenship
and the granting of leave to remain . This clearly is geared to the
adult refugee and is not child friendly.
Therefore we request that the following issues be addressed:
-
The appointment of full time professional
care workers in all resident units housing refugee children
-
Residential units to be smaller group
homes.
-
All staff to receive on going training
in cultural diversity.
-
Asylum process to be addressed and to
be more child friendly.
-
Forums for separated children be established
so they can have a voice.
-
Third level education to be made accessible
to separated Children.
-
FAS / Youthreach / Cert training courses
to be made accessible.
The inclusive policies we have recently afforded to
national Irish Children , i.e., Dail na Nog , Irish Association of
Young people In Care , etc. surely can easily be granted across the
board to all children resident in Ireland.
Breaking Through is available
to discuss the above at your convenience.
Yours sincerely,
_________________________
Paul Flynn
P.R.O.
Breaking Through.
Submisison Childcare Cutbacks
(Uploaded 10/12/03)
Breaking Through is an all-Ireland
network that seeks to promote effective interventions with young people
at risk. The network represents a membership of practitioners drawn from
all geographical locations and from a wide range of voluntary and statutory
agencies including teachers, youth workers, residential care workers, police,
prison officers and drug educators. In promoting best practice and in keeping
with our objectives, Breaking Through is committed
to influencing policy development and service provision.
Arising from the Department of Education & Science’s
37% reduction in its allocation to VECs for childcare provision many VECs
reluctantly had to inform students that childcare supports could not be
provided from autumn 2003. As evidenced in Ballinasloe in recent weeks,
a twenty-place crèche facility had to close as a result of this
moratorium on funding and deprived many young parents of continuing with
their education and training programmes. This lack of childcare funding
has hindered many young people from attending Youthreach and similar training
and education programmes across the country. These childcare supports are
provided by VECs to assist students who are returning to education and
are availing of Youthreach, Vocational Training and Opportunities Schemes
(VTOS0 and Traveller Training Centres’ Educational programmes.
Breaking Through has been shocked
by the drastic reduction in childcare provision, which has been announced.
This reduction will affect a number of closures which will mean many VTOS,
Youthreach and Traveller Training Centre students would certainly have
to withdraw from educational programmes in the near future. These students
are the most marginalised and cannot afford to pay commercial rates for
childcare purposes and consequently are dependent upon these extremely
important supports provided by VECs.
Access by students from the above Centres, to the childcare
provision is a most critical element in the fight to reduce barriers preventing
access to education. It seems ridiculous that the most vulnerable and needy
in society should/could be affected.
“Lack of qualifications can combine with unemployment,
dependence on social welfare, accommodation difficulties and health problems,
and create a situation where the various aspects of disadvantage become
mutually reinforcing.”
A quotation taken from the Department of Education and Science
Social Inclusion Unit supports the notion of providing funds through the
VECs for childcare support to encourage parents to take part in Youthreach
and Senior Traveller Training Centre programmes for early school leavers,
and the Vocational Training Opportunity Scheme for the unemployed.
Breaking Through feels that this
recent announcement contradicts this endeavour.
We urge you, the minister of Education and Science, to review
the present position of funding for childcare in Youthreach, VTOS and Traveller
Training Centres educational programmes immediately in order that learners
continue to avail of training and education programmes in these centres.
If further information is required, please do not hesitate
to contact our organisation. I attach our recent newsletter for your perusal.
Yours truly
Gerard Griffin
Treasurer
Submission to the National
Youth Development
Plan by Breaking Through:
Background:
Breaking Through is an all Ireland Network currently funded by Peace
and Reconciliation. Resulting from a European Conference, which took place
in February 1999, focusing on young people disadvantage and crime, the need
was identified for a network to bring together people interested in the policy
and practice of working with young people at risk. A committee has been established
comprising of representatives from both sides of the border.
Issues:
Breaking Through has identified a number of topics affecting both practitioners
and young people from its regional meetings. The issues affecting young people
are often dealt with by the practitioners and therefore must be viewed from
a holistic perspective. Combined with this are the mental and associated
effects of stress on the practitioners.
The key issues identified include:
School attendance or lack of attendance by young people
is still an issue. We are aware that the Education and Welfare Bill will
have implications in this respect but there is an urgency in ensuring
that there are appropriate responses to non-school attendance.
Coupled with school attendance is the effect of the economic
boom and its contribution to attracting young people into employment
before their training and/or education is complete. There should be mandatory
reporting of young people found in employment before the age of 15/16.
Breaking Through notes the specific responsibilities
of agencies with regard to the forthcoming Children’s Bill need
clarification. Guidelines with regard to roles and responsibilities are
required.
The implications of Vocational Educational Committees taking
control of youth work have to be addressed in partnership with all relevant
youth agencies. Now is an opportune period to initiate this before the
transition begins, in the hope that this would ease confusions in terms
of the responsibilities of individual agencies in the future.
In terms of the Youth Act, we recommend the regular monitoring
and evaluation within a specified time frame needs to happen, if the
effects of the implementation of the act are to be beneficial.
An in depth review of the level of inter-agency co-operation
that exists is required.
Even though there is continued preventative education available
from health services and training agencies, on health related issues
for young women in particular, as indicated by research there is a rise
in the numbers of young females becoming pregnant, an at an earlier age.
We would recommend that social workers with a specific responsibility
for single parents, working side by side with existing services are appointed,
being assigned by county or city basis.
Recognition of voluntary work done by supporting agencies
is needed. These agencies should be retained in their supportive capacities
and with regard to voluntary contributions it would be important that
they be maintained.
Breaking Through emphasises the need for more cross
border community interaction between agencies and practitioners working
with young people with a specific responsibility to disseminate best
practice. We would hope that this could be supported, developed and maintained
as a result of the National Youth Work Development Plan, with the involvement
of agencies who have experience in this field, such as by Co-Operation
Ireland.
The issues relating to suicide or parasuicide in young
men are a cause for concern. More qualified counselling and psychological
services are needed for the area of young men and masculinity issues.
There are problems regarding young men expressing themselves and their
feelings that staff feel unqualified and insecure in dealing with. Training
for staff in front line skills in needed. Young men themselves should
be involved in discussing and planning programmes to deal with the issues
affecting them.
Support for staff and trainers need to be readily available.
More specific in career development is required for staff to continuously
update existing skills and become aware of new methodologies for working
with young people at risk. It is only by continuous training that Ireland
will be consistent with its European partners.
There is a need for recognition of the specific cultural
needs of young travellers in terms of youth work. Trained individual
facilitators are required in this area to bridge the cultural divide
in group settings.
Childcare provisions should be made for youth workers and
associated clientele. Often a failing in the service to date is that
clients have no childcare and hence are unable to keep appointments.
For youth workers themselves in employment perhaps part-time or job sharing
initiatives could be introduced. These could relate to specific areas
of specialism, such as drug workers/counsellors, travellers, asylum seekers
or the fore mentioned single-parents.
Trevor Barr
Breaking Through
Unit 2
Westside Centre
51 Main Street
Leixlip
Co Kildare
Phone No 353 1 6060858
Fax No 353 1 6104417
e-mail info@breakingthrough.org
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