Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan is seeking the views of homeless young people in order to understand their experiences of homelessness and crisis intervention services.
Ms Logan said the consequences of not listening to the voices of vulnerable children have been graphically illustrated in the Ryan Report into child abuse and other investigations.
“Homeless children are extremely vulnerable and generally live very chaotic lives,” she said.
“I am very keen to understand the level of interaction they have with the State and the type and quality of services and supports that that are receiving.”
Recent official figures showed that almost 800 children were homeless and in need of emergency accommodation in 2009. Up to a quarter of these children were under 12.
Most of these children in crisis ended up in emergency hostels, residential services or emergency foster care.
The Ombudsman is requesting that any professionals working with or who know of homeless children who may wish to make their experiences known contact her Office in the coming weeks.
The consultation with homeless children is part of a wider piece of work undertaken by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office on the provision by the Health Service Executive of homelessness and crisis intervention services for vulnerable children.
Ms Logan said her office has received a number of complaints made directly by or on behalf of young people who were homeless or accessing crisis intervention and out-of-hours services.
These complaints raised a variety of issues regarding how the services operate.
In one case, a young girl told the office she had spent 10 months in hostels - or the crisis intervention service - before turning 18. At that point, she was unable to access any aftercare services.
Earlier this year the Ombudsman for Children commenced a preliminary examination of systemic issues relating to homeless services and other crisis services.
Last May she told the HSE she intended to carry out a “systemic investigation” into the provision of services to homeless children. In response, the HSE outlined a number of policy steps it plans to take to improve services.
In a statement today, the Ombudsman said she was awaiting outstanding information from the HSE.
If she is satisfied that “appropriate and timely action” is being taken, she may hold open the investigation on the basis that the HSE provides quarterly updates on progress.
However, the Ombudsman reserves the right to proceed to investigation at any time if she is not satisfied that adequate improvements have been made.
The Ombudsman for Children said she was satisfied at this stage that the HSE is cooperating fully and has already demonstrated immediate progress in the form of policy directives.
