Children with challenging behaviour are not being offered adequate therapy because of lack of professionals and child services, the Children's Commissioner, Carmen Zammit believes.
Three years after the government set up a working group to offer help to such children, therapy offered to them and their families was still lacking, she said, echoing the concerns of Magistrate Anthony Vella in his recent criticism of the authorities' lack of action.
In a judgment handed down earlier this week, the magistrate pointed out that a 17-year-old boy he was sentencing would not have appeared before him had he been given more attention by his parents and the authorities. He placed the youngster under probation for slightly injuring his mother following an argument about money.
Despite recommendations made to the authorities - asking them to provide more help to young people - no action had been taken, he said.
"I fully endorse the magistrate's words," Ms Zammit said, adding: "There is an enormous lacuna in this sector and a lack of professionals to deal with children with behavioural problems and their parents".
Ms Zammit said she was particularly concerned about young boys because there was no residential home for them and, all too often, they ended up at Mount Carmel Hospital for therapy. Since the Birkirkara residence for boys, Formula One, closed in 2003 no other such home had been opened. The chairman of the Maltese Association of Social Workers, Anthea Agius, similarly pointed out that there was no specialised therapy facility for young boys.
"We don't have a specialised, safe and therapeutic facility for children who could end up in the criminal system. The child services' system needs to be reviewed to integrate the children and work with their families because they are just being institutionalised," Ms Agius said.
The system was not focusing enough on integrating the children into the community and there were not enough resources to involve the family, she said.
In his judgment, Magistrate Vella called on the authorities to implement recommendations made by the Children's Commissioner in 2007 so that young people living in a difficult environment would be given help rather than charged in court.
The justice and social policy ministries said they were working to address the issue through legislation and by setting up a support framework, respectively.
The Justice Ministry said it intended to examine the magistrate's ruling "with a view to possibly integrate elements that transpire from it in the reform process" that was kick-started by the publication of the White Paper on Restorative Justice, issued for consultation in February.
The Children's Commissioner's recommendations would be integrated in the reform process, the ministry said.
A spokesman for the Social Policy Ministry pointed out that there was more to be done but would not give any deadlines.
He said that, since the recommendations were made, the Kids in Development programme had been set up within the Richmond Foundation. This service offered a residential programme for children aged between five and 10 years who experienced severe emotional and behavioural difficulties.
There was also the Youth Outreach service provided by Appoġġ that carried out social work interventions among young people with very challenging behaviour and worked with their families, he said.
Social work services were available in Vittoriosa and community service centres were being set up in Birkirkara, Qawra and Valletta. At present, Appoġġ was in the process of recruiting people to work in these community centres.
In 2006, the government commissioned a working group to draw up a long-term strategic plan to find solutions for dealing with young people who exhibit challenging behaviour. Since then, the ministry spokesman said, the strategic plan had been drawn up and was waiting for the minister's final approval. The plan includes therapeutic secure units for boys and girls and residential services for young people with drug related problems.