Exploring the lives of children in care in Ireland Aoife Gavin, Colette Kelly, Michal Molcho & Saoirse Nic Gabhainn, Health Promotion Research Centre, National University of Ireland, Galway. I NTRODUCTI ON In Ireland, the primary legislation for regulating child care policy is the Child Care Act, 1991 and the Child Care (Placement of Children in Foster Care) Regulations 1995. Due to recent reports in Ireland and an increased awareness of the experiences of children in care internationally, much work is underway in Ireland to increase our understanding and improve their lives. The number of children living in care in Ireland is estimated to be over 60,000 and has been increasing each year. The majority of children are in care for five or more years 1 . To date, very little is known about the lives of children living in foster care or children’s homes in Ireland. Studies in the UK and the US have illustrated that children in care are particularly vulnerable to negative life experiences. Children who become involved with the child welfare system are described as a population at risk for adverse outcomes in multiple domains 2 . Compared with the majority of children raised at home, those who grow up away from their families suffer multiple disadvantages, and the health outcomes are generally poor 3 . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was funded by the Department of Health and Children, Ireland. We would like to thank school Principals, teachers and students for giving their time to take part in this survey. METHODS Data for this paper are based on the 2006 Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, a large WHO collaborative study (www.hbsc.org). A nationally representative sample of children aged 10-17 years was recruited through schools and questionnaires were completed anonymously in class. The school and student response rate was 63% (n=215) and 83% (n=10,335), respectively. Ethical approval was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of the National University of Ireland, Galway and consent from schools, parents and children was obtained. Using the HBSC-based indicators that are presented in the SONC report series, the relationships and social, emotional and behavioural outcomes of children in care will be explored. In order to identify those children living in care, children were asked the following question: Please answer this question for the home where you live all or most of the time and tick the people who live there. The response options were: mother; father; stepmother; stepfather; grandmother; grandfather; I live in a foster home or children’s home; I live somewhere else with someone else. State of the Nations Children (SONC) indicators included: • easy to talk to their mother when something is really bothering them; • easy to talk to their father when something is really bothering them; • 3 or more friends of the same gender; • having a pet of their own or in the family; • been bullied in school (in the past couple of months); • students in their school participate in making the school rules; • smoking cigarettes every day; • been drunk at least once in the last 30 days; • taken cannabis at least once in their lifetime; • feeling happy with the way they are; • being happy with their lives at present; • physically active for at least 60 minutes per day on more than 4 days per week; • eat breakfast 5 or more days per week; • feeling safe in the area where they live; • there are good places in their area to spend their free time. CONCLUSI ON It Is apparent from the data that children in care in Ireland report experiencing negative health and well-being outcomes in comparison to children who are not in care. In particular children in care are more likely to participate in risk behaviours (smoking and cannabis use) and have poorer social relationships. Overall, these children represent a vulnerable group who require particular attention in improving their health and well-being. OBJECTI VES The purpose of this study is to explore the lives of Irish children living in foster care or children’s homes in Ireland. Using a subset of the National Set of Child Well-being Indicators, as published in the biennial State of the Nation’s Children Reports (SONC) 4 , the lives of children in care will be explored. Analysis will focus on children’s relationships as well as their social, emotional and behavioural outcomes. REFERENCES 1. HSE (2010), Census of Children in Care of the Health Boards, Interim Dataset (www.hse.ie) 2. Coman, W. & Devaney, J. (2011). Reflecting on outcomes for looked-after children: an ecological perspective. Child Care in Practice. 17(1), 37-53. 3. Fernandez, E. (2009). Children’s wellbeing in care: evidence from a longitudinal study of outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review. 31, 1092-1100. 4. Brooks, A., Hanafin, S., Cahill, H., Nic Gabhainn, S. & Molcho, M. (2010). State of the Nation’s Children. Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Dublin. There were a total of 129 children identified in the survey as living in foster care or a children’s home. The breakdown for the children in care by gender was: 57% boys (N=45); 43% girls (N=34). The following is the breakdown for children in care by HSE Area: 22% HSE West (N=17); 26% South (N=20); 15% Dublin – North East (N=12); 37% Dublin – Mid-Leinster (N=29). Figure 1: Children in care, by gender Table 1: Comparison of Indicators from the 2010 State of the Nations Children Report* RESULTS * n.b.: statistical analysis was not carried out to compare the groups Indicator Children in Care (%) SONC (%) Talk to mother 54 78 Talk to father 41 60 Have a pet 69 74 Been bullied 41 25 Participate in making school rules 37 23 Smoking – every day 21 9 Been drunk (last 30 days) 20 20 Cannabis use (lifetime) 30 16 Physically active 5+ days 57 55 Happy with way you are 42 58 Happy with life 72 91 Breakfast 5+ days a week 67 76 Feel safe in local area 70 90 Good place to spend free time 64 42 3 or more friends of same gender 73 90 2 4 41 29 1 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 ≤ 10 10 to 11 12 to 14 15 to 17 ≥ 18 Age groups N