Document Type

Report

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

5.4 SOCIOLOGY, Social issues, Family studies

Publication Details

Report on Study into the Impact of Placement in Special Care Unit Settings on the Wellbeing of Young People and Their Families.

Abstract

The Special Residential Services Board, established under Part 11 of the Children Act 2001, commissioned the Centre for Social and Educational Research to carry out this study into the Impact of Placement in Special Care Unit Settings on the Wellbeing of Young People and Their Families. Special Care Units are a relatively new part of the child care system in Ireland. They are facilities that provide a secure environment for young people who require protection because of a real and substantial risk to their health, safety, development or welfare. At the time the work for this report was carried out, all children placed in Special Care Units, had to be placed there on a High Court Order. When Part 3 of the Children Act 2001, is fully implemented, the process for obtaining a Special Care Order will be through the District Court. The Special Residential Services Board will be required to give a view to the Court on the appropriateness of any such Order. As Special Care Units have been in existence for a relatively short period of time, research in this area has been limited. This report therefore represents an important contribution to our knowledge of special care and the impact of these placements on young people. One of the functions of the Special Residential Services Board is to carry out a programme of research into specialist residential services, and we intend to develop a body of knowledge in this field. We would like to thank the researchers Dr Lorna Ryan, Mr Niall Hanlon and Ms Louise Riley and Ms Audrey Warren for her contributions to the final report. We would also like to thank the staff of the units and our colleagues across the Health Services Executive. Most importantly we would like to thank the children and families who took part in the research.

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