Today, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is marking the 10th Care Day, a day to listen, learn and amplify the voices of children and young people in care. 

This includes children and young people who were or are being cared for by family members with the support of social workers, foster carers, or children and young people from children’s homes and residential units. HIQA works to support children in care by inspecting statutory children’s residential centres, foster care services, child protection and welfare services and special care units and Oberstown Children Detention Campus.

Supporting the day, Eva Boyle, HIQA’s Head of Children’s Services, said: “Care Day is a chance to celebrate the care experiences of children and young people, through both listening to their stories and highlighting their achievements. The theme of this year’s day is ‘Voices from care, ripples of change’. Listening to what children tell us about their experiences of care is at the heart of our work in monitoring and inspecting services. Over the last 10 years, we have sought to give greater prominence to the voices of children and their experiences in our inspection reports.

“As we highlighted in our recent 10-year overview report of children’s services, hearing about children’s experiences helps us learn about what improvements are needed and provides vital insights which we use throughout our work.”

Care Day is organised by Empowering People in Care (EPIC), an advocacy organisation for children and young people who are currently in care or who have experience of being in care. To find out more about Care Day, visit the EPIC website here.

In addition, HIQA has created a video highlighting the voices of children and young people in care and what they told us about their experiences. Watch the video here.

ENDS

Further information:
Kevin Maguire, Senior Communications Officer, 087 639 7184 / kevmaguire@hiqa.ie 

Notes to Editor:

• Under the Health Act 2007 (as amended), HIQA is responsible for regulating and monitoring the safety and quality of children’s social services in Ireland to ensure they meet national standards and relevant regulations.
• In collaboration with the Mental Health Commission, HIQA has developed Draft Overarching Standards for the Care and Support of Children using Health and Social Care Services. These standards are designed to outline what children and young people should expect from health and social care services, and aim to promote high-quality, safe, consistent and coordinated care and support for children using these services.
• In December 2024, HIQA published a report on its monitoring and regulation of children’s services over the past 10 years. The report, 10 Years of Regulating and Monitoring Children’s Social Care Services, found that many aspects of children’s services in Ireland have improved over the past decade, and also sets out how HIQA continues to advocate for children and young people to improve services and influence change.