Those with Care Experience, Academics, Professionals and many others will explore and recommend how we, as a society, can ensure better, more equitable outcomes for the children and young people who come through our care system.

These webinars will seek to provide participants with an overview of the unique issues facing care experienced children and young people in terms of LGBTI+, Ethnicity, Education, Disability, Accommodation and Justice.

The Accommodation webinar aims to explore the experiences of young people living in care and in aftercare in Ireland, to highlight the different accommodation placements young people live in, while also looking at the areas and gaps which could be improved upon overall, plus current initiatives to improve these experiences.

Our webinar includes;

• A Presentation from The Ombudsperson for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon.

• A discussion piece on ‘CAS - Capital Assistance Scheme’ housing for care leavers with Danielle McGarry a member of EPIC’s Youth Council, William McNamara Tusla National Liaison Lead for Aftercare Services, and Pat Doyle CEO of the Peter McVerry Trust.

• A presentation by John Murphy EPIC’s Research and Advocacy Officer, titled; ‘COVID 19 - A moment in time for children’s residential care services in Ireland’,

• A recorded panel piece between Angelika Majer and Dillon Nolan from EPIC’s Youth Council members alongside Dr. Niall Muldoon OCO and Damien Hernon Interim CEO Oberstown Children’s Detention Campus, discussing the issues care leavers can face around accommodation.

And in-between these presentations we have some creative and informative pieces to show you shared by;

• Our EPIC Youth Council

• Daffodil Care Children’s Residential Services,

• Children and young people from Orchard Fostering service,

• The Smyly Trust Services”

This session will close with a live Q&A panel that will include William McNamara (TUSLA), Pat Doyle (PMVT), John Murphy (EPIC), Aisling Bruen (Social Care Team Leader with care experience) and Danielle McGarry (EPIC Youth Council).

Speaker/Contributor Bios:

Danielle McGarry

Danielle is a member of the National EPIC Youth Council, she is an After School Teacher and has a Level 6 Qualification in Advocacy. Danielle is also a care leaver.

Aisling Bruen

Aisling is a Social Care Team Leader with care experience, a Community Volunteer, Housing Activist, and Committee Member of the Irish Aftercare Network.

Dr Niall Muldoon

Dr Niall Muldoon is Ireland’s second Ombudsman for Children. Niall, who is a counselling and clinical psychologist and was previously Director of Investigations at the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO), was appointed by President Michael D Higgins on February 17th 2015. As Ombudsman for Children Niall has focused on generating an Ireland where children and young people are actively heard, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

During his tenure the Office has sought to give voice to those children who are often not listened to. In that time the Office has consulted with young people availing of Ireland’s Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Direct Provision, those in children’s hospitals, young people living in Family Hubs and young people affected by Brexit.

The OCO has also published a range of special reports on topics such as Education, Scoliosis Treatment and School Transport, as well as investigations highlighting cases where children’s rights were not respected in the provision of disability supports, in the care system and in housing.

In 2019 the OCO hosted “Beyond Limits: Empowering young people with disabilities” the first event of its kind bringing together 1,000 people in Croke Park for speakers, demonstrations, information and activities – all focused on children with disabilities. Working with others, Niall has contributed to

i) The introduction of the ‘Barnahus, Onehouse Galway’ model to ease trauma for children who have been sexually abused.

ii) Bringing an end to young people being held in adult prisons.

He is also a member of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) where he holds the role of Secretary on the Bureau.

William Mc Namara: national liaison lead for Tusla Aftercare Services

William spent many years working in the private sector as a master craftsman following a 5 year apprenticeship programme and changed careers to working with a community charity organisation in the area of physical disability working in support of wheelchair users across all age groups. William while working in this area with no recognised formal qualification in the field of Social Care was influenced by the proactive use of principals of empowerment, social inclusion, access, integration, independence and subsequent outcomes of service users made the decision to study Social Care as a full time mature student while continuing to work in the area of Social Care. A Graduate from WIT & DIT, William now has 30 years of Social Care experience of working in Voluntary and State Sectors directly in areas of homelessness, physical disability, special schools, secure care, residential care, out of hours crisis intervention services and as a designated advocate for children in care . These experiences continue to underpin William’s work within and on behalf of Tusla in the area of Aftercare Services over the last decade.

William holding regional and national aftercare roles has worked specifically to further progress development of Tusla Aftercare Services by leading and supporting the delivery of a range of structural supports, initiatives and projects to assist local aftercare teams who work directly with eligible young people and young adults. As the recent national liaison lead for Tusla aftercare services, Williams’s role is working collaboratively and in consultation with all aftercare stakeholders to inform service improvement planning and development. The principal emphasis is one of maximising supports within identified Tusla resources available at any given time while also embracing a cross governmental, inter-departmental, inter-agency collaborative approach with reference to legislation, national policy and/or framework documents which can further enhance development and delivery of a quality aftercare support service.

To name one project William is the Tusla lead for the Capital Assistance Scheme accommodation for care leaver’s. William within his remit of implementation lead in consultation submitted an internal Tusla proposal of identified accommodation need for a cohort of young people and young adults. Following consideration of this proposal, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs/ Tusla CAS project team was established to develop a set of key principles in preparation of a CAS application to Department of Housing Planning and Local Government. On subsequent approval of this application by DHPLG to include Care Leavers as a category, William presently has a supportive advisory role in the implementation of the CAS programme in this context.

Pat Doyle, CEO Peter McVerry Trust

Pat Doyle was appointed CEO of Peter McVerry Trust in late 2005.Pat has a Higher Diploma and a Master’s in Education and has over 30 years’ experience in the community and voluntary sector. During this time, Pat has worked in the area of social inclusion, managing a range of initiatives, projects and organisations that work with marginalised young people at risk of homelessness and addiction and those within residential care settings and criminal justice institutions. This experience continues to underpin his work with Peter McVerry Trust, to promote inclusion and to open doors for people impacted by homelessness.

Pat is the current President of the Irish Council for Social Housing, the representative association for approved housing bodies in Ireland, of which Peter McVerry Trust is a member. Pat is also a member of the Department of Housing’s High Level Housing Delivery Group and the High Level Taskforce on Homelessness.

John Murphy

John has worked with EPIC since September 2012 as an advocacy officer and over the last two years combined this work with research. During this time John completed a Law Degree in UCC and followed this up with an LLM (Child and Family Law) where he did his dissertation on young people in Special Care.

Angelika Majer

Angelika is a 22 year old student, currently completing a masters in Community and Youth Work at Maynooth University. Angelika is also a care leaver and spent her teenage years in foster care.

In the future she hopes to work with young people as she believes that her experiences will help her create better and more inclusive environments to support young people facing difficulties.

Angelika has a strong desire to be involved in promoting her positive experiences of being in care while also being part of influencing changes within the system itself.

Angelika is a member of the National EPIC Youth Council and is passionate about sharing her experiences of being in care, so that her experiences will help shape positive and more meaningful experiences for care leavers who will come after her.

Dillon Nolan

Dillon is a student social worker with care experience and activist working on the EPIC Youth Council to help improve standards and rights for young people in care and leaving care.

Damien Hernon - Interim Director of Oberstown

Damien became Interim Director on 2 November 2020. He has an extensive working knowledge of and experience within the children detention arena which stretches back almost 30 years. He has gained wide-ranging frontline knowledge along with a broad operational understanding which contributes to a holistic approach to developing the campus.

In his role as Interim Director, Damien is committed to building on the platform created over the years by the previous executive in conjunction with the Board of Management, with regard to the future development of our campus, our young people and our staff.

Please note, these webinars are aimed at ages 16+