Exploring the lives of children
in care in Ireland
AOIFE GAVIN
AOIFE.GAVIN@NUIGALWAY.IE
HEALTH PROMOTION RESEARCH CENTRE
www.nuigalway.ie/hbsc
NUI GALWAY
Background
 Historical perspective of children in care in Ireland
 Policy and Legislation:
 Child Care Act, 1991
 Children Act, 2001
 Children's First Guidelines (2011)
 National Children's Strategy (2000)
 The Health Act, 2007
Context
 Children in Ireland – 1,056,947 (CSO, 2006)
 2009 – 5,694 children in care (HSE, 2010)
 89% are in foster care services
 7% are in residential care (n=161 residential centres)
 4% other care arrangements (HIQA, 2009)
 “Children in care” include children who are in voluntary
care and those who are in care under care orders
 Children in care in Ireland have increased by 27% in the
last decade (McNicholas, et al., 2012)
Why explore their lives?
 2nd goal of National Children’s Strategy

“Children’s lives will be better understood; their lives will benefit from
evaluation, research and information on their needs, rights and the
effectiveness of services”
 Looked after children frequently present with complex health
and educational needs and often face many obstacles in
accessing services (McNicholas, 2012)
 Meltzer (2003) – 45% of CIC had mental health problems and
experienced significant health and educational inequalities
 Limited research in Ireland to date exploring the lived
experience of children in care
Aim
The purpose of this research is to explore the lives of
children living in care in Ireland utilising the Health
Behaviour in School-aged Children (2006) data in
relation to the National Well-being Indicators
Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)
 The study aims to gain new insight into, and increase
our understanding of young people’s health and wellbeing, health behaviours and their social context
 The findings are used to inform and influence
children’s policy and practice and national and
international levels
 The target age groups are 11, 13 and 15 years old
Health Behaviour in School-aged Children
Children’s lives
SES:
Gender
Age
Social
Class
Ethnicity
Contexts:
Family
School
Peers
Risk
behaviours:
Drinking, smoking...
Health
enhancing
behaviours:
Physical activity,
leisure activity...
Health
outcomes:
Well being
Life satisfaction
Self rated health
........
HBSC International
State of the Nations Children Report (SONC, 2008)
 Subset of well-being indicators
 Children’s relationships
 Children’s outcomes
 social, emotional and behavioural outcomes
 Formal and informal supports
Methods
 Data based on the 2006 survey
 Nationally representative sample of
children aged 10-18 (n=10,334
children aged 10 to 18)
 Recruited through schools –
questionnaires completed
anonymously in class
 Response rates – schools (63%);
pupil (83%)
Identifying children living in care
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
Demographic Profile of the Sample
A total of 79 young people self-identified as living in care.
Number of children in care by HSE Area
SONC Indicators: Relationships
Indicator
Children in care (%)
SONC (%)
Ease of communication
(mother)
54
78
Ease of communication
(father)
41
60
3 or more friends of same
gender
73
90
Have a pet
69
74
Been bullied
41
25
*n.b.: statistical analysis was not carried out to compare the groups
Social, Emotional and Behavioural Outcomes
Indicator
Children in care (%)
SONC (%)
Participate in making
school rules
37
23
Smoking – every day
21
9
Been drunk (last 30 days)
20
20
Cannabis use (lifetime)
30
16
Happy with way you are
42
58
Happy with life
72
91
Breakfast 5+ days a week
67
76
*n.b.: statistical analysis was not carried out to compare the groups
Formal and Informal Supports
Indicator
Children in care (%)
SONC (%)
Feel safe in local area
70
90
Good place to spend free
time
64
42
* n.b.: statistical analysis was not carried out to compare the groups
Implications
 In general, children in care report experiencing more
negative health and well-being outcomes across most
indicators presented.
 Work on-going with HBSC 2010 data.
 Overall, children in care are among the most
vulnerable in our society and we should continue to
highlight and address ways to improve their health
and well-being.
 Future work required to better understand the lives
of children in care.
#1-8-7
Acknowledgements
 Children, Parents, Schools
 Professor Candace Currie, International Coordinator, St.




Andrews University
Professor Oddrun Samdal, Data Bank Manager, University
of Bergen
HBSC network of researchers
Department of Health
Department of Children and Youth Affairs
Thank you!
www.nuigalway.ie/hbsc
www.hbsc.org