Pat's Answer

Hello, welcome to Ask Pat.

It sounds like you are in foster care and are looking to see what rights you have to see your birth family.

A young person can end up in care when their birth family is not the safest place for them to be.

At all times, the best interest of the child or young person is most important. It may be decided that it is not in the child or young person’s best interest to have contact with their birth family for a period of time.

You have the right to be heard and the right to be listened to. You also have the right to know if and when you can or cannot see your birth family.

Do you have a social worker that you can ask these questions to? Or maybe you would feel more comfortable talking to your foster parent.

You can find out some information about ‘Access’ on the Irish Foster Care Association (IFCA) website. There is also a group named EPIC, which stands for Empowering Young People in Care. They have a website www.epiconline.ie , and have experience in helping young people who are in care.

You can also get in touch with Childline by phone (1800 66 66 66) by text (50101) or by WebChat on this website. All contacts to Childline are free. We do not trace calls and we do not use caller ID or IP addresses, so your call is totally confidential.

Childline is open 24/7, so there will always be somebody here to talk to you when you want to get in touch.

Take care,
Pat