A 14-year-old boy has been in a health board home for over three years because no foster placement could be found for him, it has emerged.
The child is housed with five other boys who range in age from six to 10 years. All are similarly affected by the shortage of foster care placements, but the others have not been in care as long as the 14-year-old.
The six children in the centre had been there for between five months and 3.4 years. A 10-year-old had been there nearly two years while a six-year-old had been there for six months and a seven-year-old for 8 months. The childrens circumstances are highlighted in a report from the Irish Social Services Inspectorate published yesterday.
Its inspectors who visited the children's residential centre run by the Northern Area Health Board found it was set up to provide emergency short-term care for children under 12 only.
The inspectors report said: "Health board policy is for children under the age of 12 to be placed in family (relative or foster) placements, rather than in residential care. In practice there have been difficulties realising this policy due to a shortage of available foster care placements.
"The lack of alternative placements has resulted in the children receiving medium to long term care in a centre where practices are informed by short term provision. This was evident in the lack of planned direct work with the young people and the limited involvement of parents in the daily life of the centre."
A spokesman for the health board said the board did not have as many foster families as it would like but progress was being made. A full report on foster care provision in the eastern region would be published next month, he said.