Sir, – I am writing to you as a former child protection social worker in response to the article by Carl O'Brien about young people in care ("We're not asking for the impossible – we just want what other kids have", February 2nd).
I want young people in care to know that it was my involvement with them that kept me in the job for as long as I stayed. I didn’t mind the sleepless nights, agonising over decisions I made about their futures.
It was the impossible, bureaucratic, under-resourced system that broke my heart day after day and made me want to leave and go to chop tomatoes in a cafe somewhere.
Frontline social workers should be consulted regularly about the types of solutions that would enhance the lives of children and young people in care and aftercare.
Children and young people in care and aftercare deserve and need much more than they are getting.
Their lives, as a result of being in care, are more complicated and turbulent, and surely that merits care and attention and increased resources to transition them safely into adulthood.
I spent 4½ years as a child protection social worker. I could never do it again. I take my hat off to the amazing social workers who are still working within that system, trying to find solutions and be creative with very limited resources.
It is a wearing battle. – Yours, etc,
MARIE KINSELLA,
Stepaside,
Dublin 18.