Children must be protected from neglect – McGimpsey

Social Services Minister, Michael McGimpsey said there needs to be greater investment in vulnerable children in order to protect them from harm and neglect.

Over half of all children on the child protection register in Northern Ireland are there because of neglect. In addition, over 100,000 children are living in poverty, some 40,000 live in a family where substance abuse is a problem and 11,000 live with domestic violence on a daily basis.

Speaking during an Assembly debate on neglect of children and young people, Mr McGimpsey said: "In Northern Ireland, every day thousands of children are being neglected and are suffering. Neglect comes in many forms. Typical examples of neglect include children being deprived of proper food, shelter or clothing through to having illnesses or injuries which are untreated. The reasons for neglect are varied but often involve circumstances where parents have addiction problems or mental health problems and as a result are simply unable to cope. It is also often associated with domestic violence.

"Today’s debate is not about how we respond to crisis situations. It is about taking a longer term view. It is about investing in the future fabric of our society so that fewer families reach crisis point and fewer children suffer harm. There is a growing body of research that shows that prevention and early intervention help save spending on dealing with the impact of problems later. Prevention and early intervention should and must be our long-term focus.

"However, we already know that historically in Northern Ireland services to families and children have been under-resourced by some 30% compared to other parts of the UK. Whilst this is a situation which I have inherited, demand for social services does not stop and in fact continues to grow.

"Over the past five years the numbers of children referred to social services has increased by 24%. Everyone knows that I have been warning for the past two and a half years about the dangers of underfunding health and social care services. We must invest in the most vulnerable in our society if we are to protect them from harm."

The Minister said he had made the decision to prioritise and invest in children’s services and strategies which addressed many of the factors contributing to child neglect.

He continued: "By March 2010 I will have increased spending on family and children’s services by 14% in two years. This includes around £20 million to strengthen arrangements around the families matter and care matters strategies.

"We must also never forget that behind all the shocking figures are the social workers and volunteers who work tirelessly with families and children. Social services do not create the problems, they are however the people we expect to deal with them. They should not be blamed when individuals in our community decide to behave in extreme, unpredictable, unreasonable and sometimes in violent or abusive ways.

"We all have a duty to ensure that children in Northern Ireland are protected from not just neglect but all forms of harm or abuse. I hope that we can collectively find ways to translate this vote into actions which can genuinely make a difference to families and children across Northern Ireland."

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