Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has acknowledged the need for the government to set up an institution to cater for children and adolescents who cannot continue to live at home.

The minister was reacting to court reports yesterday about a troubled teenage boy who was constrained to live with his family, despite the toxic environment at home, because no placement could be found for him.   

The 16-year-old boy was arrested after slightly injuring his younger brother, causing him and his mother fear that violence would be used against them and threatening them. He was jailed for three months.

His probation officer testified that his condition was a highly precarious one and that he suffered a drug addiction problem. 

The boy had been placed under a care order at a young age, the officer testified. However, when he was around 10 years old, he ended up with nowhere to live due to his challenging behaviour and was therefore sent back to his mother.

He was placed under probation at the age of 12, going on to spend some time at the Young People's Unit at Mount Carmel Hospital before a placement was sourced for him. 

He was doing well, the probation officer told the court, until he returned to his family home where a host of problems and run-ins with the law ensued. 

"Whenever he goes back home, he always ends up in the same situation", the probation officer told Magistrate Charmaine Galea. 

He also underscored the fact that, so far, there is no residential facility in Malta which caters for minors with drug problems.

“It is our duty to set up a place to host and care for children and adolescents such as this because their place is certainly not in prison or Mr Carmel Hospital,” Mr Bartolo said in a Facebook post.

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