Sir, - I give a cautious welcome to the recent announcement by the Minister for Health of two new initiatives to improve services to young homeless people - the appointment of a Director for Youth Homelessness and the creation in each health board area of multi-disciplinary teams to work with young homeless people and young people at risk of homelessness. Two similar recommendations were made by the report of the Forum on Youth Homelessness, the most important report in this area for the past 20 years. However, the initiatives announced by the Minister are not the recommendations made by the forum report.
Under the Minister's proposals, the Director for Youth Homelessness will be answerable to, and take orders from, the same people who have failed the young homeless for the past 20 years and will be working within the same community care structures which have so obviously failed. The forum envisaged the director being answerable to an independent board with its own structures. My fear is that the director, as proposed by the Minister, will end up frustrated and ineffective.
Under the Minister's proposals, each health board area will have a multi-disciplinary team to work with young homeless people. The forum emphasised local community responses in those areas where most young homeless people come from. The multi-disciplinary team was to be such a local community response, working closely with local families and local community organisations and services. Under the Minister's proposals, the multi-disciplinary teams may be so diluted as to be ineffective. Further, as it is clear that no change in existing structures is envisaged, it is difficult to see what role, function and responsibilities the multi-disciplinary teams can have which do not either usurp or duplicate the existing functions and responsibilities of social workers who already have the statutory responsibility for young homeless people.
The failure of the health boards to respond adequately to the problem of young homeless people goes much deeper than simply adding a new post or new services, welcome as they may be. A fundamental change of structures is required. For that reason, the forum report emphasised the need for an independent board. It recognised that there would be political opposition to such a proposal. It is, however, to be regretted that the Minister is unwilling to grasp this particular nettle. - Yours, etc.,
Fr Peter McVerry SJ, Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, Upper Sherrard Street, Dublin 1.