Four apartments providing shelter to vulnerable children are costing the government over €870,000 a year, according to information given in Parliament.

The apartments were being provided for 14 children who, for various reasons, were unable to stay in institutional care or with foster parents, Social Solidarity Minister Michael Falzon said in reply to a parliamentary question tabled by Democratic Party MP Godfrey Farrugia.

Apartments in Rabat, Paola and Santa Venera between them host six girls, and another in Qormi has been set aside for siblings and accommodates eight children from two families. In 2013, a decision was made to prevent the double trauma of siblings being taken away from their families by court order and also being separated from each other.

The Times of Malta reported in 2015 that only about 30 out of the 1,000 children seen by child protection service social workers every year were placed under a care order.

Such care, which includes customised plans, does not come cheap. The Qormi siblings’ home costs €301,915 a year, working out to €37,739 per child. The three apartments in Rabat, Paola and Santa Venera cost €317,618 (€105,873 per child), €194,858 (€97,429 per child) and €60,139 (€60,139 per child) a year, respectively.

In the Budget for 2018, the government promised to set up a secure therapeutic centre for minors unable to stay in institutions or with foster parents, mainly because of behavioural problems but also due to their specific requirements.