To ask the Minister of Health for his assessment of the October 2025 Voice Of Young People In Care report Show Us You Care: A Call to Action From Care-experienced Young People.

The ‘Show Us You Care: A Call to Action from Care Experienced Young People’ Report was launched by Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) in Parliament Buildings in October 2025, and several of my officials were in attendance to hear directly from young people who were speaking at the event. The Report reflects their views that the challenges which led to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services are still present, and sets out 12 ‘priority calls to actions’ for policy makers, commissioners, politicians, the media and service providers. These include ensuring safe and stable homes, protecting sibling and wider family relationships, guaranteeing independent advocacy, providing better support for education and mental health, and creating a single children and families agency for Northern Ireland.

My Department is making significant progress on addressing a number of the calls to action set out within the report, through a range of different approaches.

The first call to action focuses on the establishment of a single agency for children and families, as recommended by Professor Ray Jones in his report on the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care Services. VOYPIC played an important role in facilitating the views of young people in the Review, through supporting an ‘Experts by Experience’ group to engage with Professor Jones as he undertook his work. The Justice Minister and I have agreed to work together to identify the steps necessary to establish a Regional Children and Families Authority incorporating children’s social care and youth justice services. The Executive has indicated support for the proposed approach and that work is now underway.

As part of the Reform Programme established to address the challenges which led to the Review, there is a specific focus on enhancing capacity and capability of our residential care provision, in particular through ongoing work to develop a regional strategic plan for children’s residential care. This will in turn ensure we have an estate that serves children across Northern Ireland well, and that every child has a safe place to call home.

In respect of a right to independent advocacy, plans are already in place to introduce statutory independent advocacy services through the phased implementation of the Adoption and Children Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. The Act will also place care planning, and personal education plans, on a statutory basis, contributing to two further calls to action. Finally, and in support of the call to action relating to transitioning from care, the Act will place on a statutory basis the ‘Going the Extra Mile (GEM)’ scheme which allows young people to remain in their foster home beyond their 18th birthday until they reach age 21. The Act will also introduce extended support to care leavers aged 21 to 25, and will introduce a new duty for HSC Trusts to publish information about services which are available to assist care leavers in preparing for adulthood and independent living – the Local Offer for Care Leavers. The Act is being implemented in a phased basis, over a number of years, with implementation subject to the availability of funding.

Actions have also been taken forward under the joint Department of Health / Department of Education Strategy for Looked After Children, ‘A Life Deserved’ to promote positive narratives relating to being in care, addressing the call to action to be proud to those who are looked after or have left care. For example, my Department provides funding for the annual ‘Care Day’ to recognise and celebrate all care experienced children and young people.

More broadly, many of the calls to action are reflective of the 11 building blocks set out in the Northern Ireland Framework for Integrated Therapeutic Care. It has a focus on providing collaborative, individualised, trauma-informed care to meet the assessed needs of each child. The Framework is currently being implemented in residential care settings, but over time it will be expanded to all settings for looked after and care experienced children and young people.

My Department places great importance on working with organisations such as VOYPIC to ensure the voices of children in care and care leavers are heard in issues affecting them. I welcome the publication of Report, and consider that it will make a helpful contribution to further work to improve policies, frameworks and services for these children and young people.