Vulnerable children set to be the first casualties of Stormont collapse, warns charity

By Maria McCann

An organisation that looks after hundreds of disadvantaged families in Belfast every year has been told it must close.

Extern has been ordered to shut its Belfast Intensive Family Support Service before the end of the month.

Almost 50 members of staff are expected to be made redundant.

It's thought to be down to government budget issues.

A protest has been organised at Stormont today between 1pm and 4pm.

Speaking about the decision to stop funding for IFSS, Charlie Mack, Chief Executive of Extern, said: “IFSS is a life-altering, and often life-saving service, which is seeing 50 per cent more children in Belfast being removed from the Child Protection Register, is keeping children in school, and is significantly reducing anti-social and violent behaviours.

“This decision is devastating, not only for the vulnerable and marginalised children and families we work with, but also for our dedicated and professional staff, who are to be made redundant.

“This is a decision which is also a completely false economy. For a paltry 83p per Department, per child or family member, per day, it is releasing capacity within the statutory agencies, has significant cost saving implications in the areas of justice and education, and is leading to less dependency on the public purse both now, and in the future.

“This project was created because it was identified that the existing supports were not meeting the needs of these ‘hard to reach’ and complex families. We have now been told that those supports, previously viewed as inadequate, are what these families are going to be signposted back to. Just days after people came out to vote for a better future, thousands of those most in need are being told they don't matter.”

“The most recent Departmental resource budgets for the five Departments, totalled £9.5bn. This equates to over £25m per day. We are asking for 83 pence per day, per child or family member.

“I have huge concerns about this. Should funding not be found to continue this service, the sad alternative is that Stormont will be casting a very long, and very dark shadow, over the lives of the most disadvantaged children and families in Belfast, for a long time to come. As a society, we cannot allow that to happen, and so Extern remains committed to working with Departments to ensure the continuation of this vital service.”