Children in care are being failed, young people tell Stormont

Northern Ireland’s care system is at “breaking point”, young people have warned politicians at Stormont, as they launched a call to action for urgent reform of children’s services.

At Parliament Buildings, the charity VOYPIC (Voice of Young People in Care) unveiled Show Us You Care: A Call to Action from Care Experienced Young People, a document shaped by over 150 children and young people in care and care leavers. It sets out 12 priorities, including ending profit in care, guaranteeing safe and stable homes, strengthening mental health support, protecting sibling relationships, ensuring independent advocacy and creating a single children and families agency for Northern Ireland.

The young people, many of whom shared their personal experiences at the event, said reforms were needed to ensure no future generation suffers the same failings.

Seventeen-year-old VOYPIC Young Leader Jay Hyndman told the audience: “When you come into care, you feel like you have to grow up too fast. Everything happens so quickly, and you don’t really know what’s happening to you. We need to feel connected to each other, to belong, and to break the stigma of care.”

Rhianna Brown, a 22-year-old VOYPIC Young Rep and care leaver, stressed the importance of listening to children directly. She said: “This call to action is about more than problems. It’s about solutions that will actually make our lives better if people listen and act. If decisions are being made about young people in care, then we should be involved in those decisions.”

VOYPIC Chief Executive Alicia Toal praised the leadership of care-experienced young people but warned that services are under severe pressure. “There are more children in care in Northern Ireland now than at any time since the introduction of the Children Order in 1996. The system is stretched to breaking point. This call to action is their blueprint for change. It’s time for politicians, professionals and communities to step up.”

Figures show that more than 4,000 children are now in care in Northern Ireland, representing a 21 per cent increase in just four years. The rate of children entering care is higher than in both Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Guest speaker Professor Ray Jones, who led the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services, echoed the urgency for reform. He warned that too many children remain without allocated social workers, some are placed in unregulated settings, and private providers are profiting from children’s homes. “Children only have one childhood and the clock is ticking. Northern Ireland’s care system is in deep difficulty, but it is fixable. What’s needed is the political will to act now,” he said.

Jones’s 2023 review made 53 recommendations, including the creation of a region-wide Children and Families Authority to end fragmentation and drive consistency. While this proposal has wide support, its implementation has been stalled due to the lack of a functioning Executive.

Although some progress has been made – such as recruiting new social workers, developing fostering standards and improving transition support – both VOYPIC and Professor Jones warned that overall change has been too slow, risking further harm to children and families.

The launch was attended by MLAs from the Education, Justice and Health Committees, who heard directly from young people about their experiences and priorities for reform. The message from those young people was clear: the system is in crisis, but it can change—if leaders act now.