Media Statement: Care-Experienced Youth Call for Political Action on Care Day 2025
Contact: Caroline Reid, Communications Manager | carolinereid@epiconline.ie | 087 216 2496
Care Day, 21 February 2025
Calls for new government, policymakers, and legislators to address critical issues in care system
“We are artists, advocates, leaders. We are shaping our own futures—and we need support, not stigma.”
Today, with the launch of a special edition Care Day newspaper, ‘The EPIC Times,’ care-experienced youth and Empowering People in Care (EPIC) are urging the new government, policymakers, and legislators to address critical issues in the care system.
The EPIC Times features compelling contributions from young people who have navigated Ireland’s care system, advocates, and allies and its launch coincides with Care Day, the world’s largest celebration of people with care experience.
Speaking about Care Day, Kai Brosnan, a care-experienced young person and EPIC Youth Council member, said: “The public doesn’t always see the struggles we can go through. We want them to know that we are more than statistics. We are artists, advocates, leaders. We are shaping our own futures—and we need support, not stigma.”
Josh Farrell, another contributor and member of the EPIC Youth Council, highlighted the challenges of leaving care without adequate aftercare support: “The government has committed to updating the Child Care Act, 1991, so there is opportunity to address these issues. If the government is truly committed to investing in our future and giving all young people in Ireland a fair chance, we must reform the eligibility criteria for aftercare supports.
EPIC Youth Council member, Emily Hanbidge, shared her experience of a growing up with a supportive foster family, highlighting the critical role that foster carers play in Ireland’s child care system: “My story is not just my own; it’s a testament to the incredible difference that fostering can make in the lives of children who find themselves navigating uncertain waters.”
Despite progress, Ireland’s care system is still experiencing a number of crises, including a shortage of suitable care placements and critical staffing deficits.
Wayne Stanley, CEO of EPIC, Empowering People in Care said: “Care Day is about celebrating care experienced young people and all their achievements, but it is not solely about celebration—it’s about demanding better for children and young people in the care of the state. This year’s Care Day theme, “Voices from Care, Ripples of Change,” underscores the transformative power of personal stories in shaping public awareness, policy, and attitudes toward young people in care.”
“However, we need to move beyond awareness and into action—ensuring that children in care and young care-leavers are not just heard, but that their voices shape real reform.
“There is an opportunity with the current General Scheme of the Child Care (Amendment Bill) to remove the criteria that a young person must have spent more than 12 months in care between the ages of 13 and 18. This criteria is currently acting as a barrier for many children in vulnerable or precarious situations to receive the aftercare supports they need, simply because they did not formally enter the care system until after their 17th birthday.”
“Children in the care are being significantly impacted by systemic failures which cannot be addressed by Tusla alone. Stronger interagency collaboration is essential to address disparities faced by care-experienced children and young people in education, housing, health, and justice.”
“A well-resourced, coordinated national strategy could end the use of unregulated placements within the lifetime of this government. This will require leadership, commitment, and a recognition of the state’s duty to deliver a care system that supports every child who needs it. Anything less is a failure of responsibility that Ireland cannot afford.”
This Care Day, be part of the change. Listen. Learn. Read The EPIC Times.