Minor went missing from residential homes

With reference to the article published on April 20, No Adequate Shelter For Young Girl Caught In Vicious Circle, Aġenzija Appoġġ in consultation with Peter Fenech, Appoġġ legal counsel, would like to make some clarifications.

The article states that “The girl… has been institutionalised since the age of three” when in fact the girl was first taken into care in her early teens.

It is also stated that the minor “…remained in prison pending an appeal from a judgment…” It should be noted that the time frame under discussion was actually two working days which is a requirement of legal procedures, with a weekend in between.

With reference to “The reason she had breached bail...” it should be noted that the minor was free to go out during the day but under a court-imposed condition to return within a certain time frame. She failed to observe this time frame and remained missing.

Additionally the article asserts that “…there was nowhere to house youngsters such as this girl”. Aġenzija Appoġġ would like to stress that numerous efforts were made along these years, and there were placements which were secured for the minor.

However, the minor did not adhere to the residential homes’ programmes and regulations and went missing quite frequently.

Also Aġenzija Appoġġ, after communicating with Dr Fenech, confirmed that the assertion that “…one of their (YMCA) homes had closed down due to lack of funding” was inaccurate. Dr Fenech explained that the closure of the YMCA minor shelter was not due to lack of funding but due to funding investigations.