Derry’s Shea Taylor provides powerful testimony on need of reform of child social services

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The testimony of Shea Taylor, a young person from Derry was read into the Stormont record this week as MLAs called for reform of the social care system in the North.

Shea is a member of the Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) Experts by Experience group for young people aged 14-25 with experience of the care system who which was set up as part of a review of children’s services here.

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Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister told MLAs she had been contacted by Shea in advance of the debate: “I received an email from a young person who has given me permission to name him today and who wanted his thoughts to be read out.”

Ms. McAllister went on to read Shea’s testimony into the record.

The testimony of Shea Taylor, a young person from Derry, was read into the Stormont record this week as MLAs called for reform of the social care system in the North.The testimony of Shea Taylor, a young person from Derry, was read into the Stormont record this week as MLAs called for reform of the social care system in the North.
The testimony of Shea Taylor, a young person from Derry, was read into the Stormont record this week as MLAs called for reform of the social care system in the North.

"My name is Shea Taylor, and I am an expert by experience (EBE) based in the Derry office,” he stated.

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He continued: “Advocating for positive change for young people across Northern Ireland is something I'm extremely passionate about, as I myself am a care experienced young person who has been in kinship care since 2021.”

Shea went on to outline concerns about services including ‘the government's ignorance towards creating a suitable, appropriate and sustainable care system in which young people in care can receive help, support and gain skills, confidence and grow as young people in a safe environment in which they can thrive’.

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His statement highlighted a ‘lack of funding for youth organisations’ and ‘a flawed care system for young people, particularly the number of different Health and Social Care Trust areas which make it difficult to sustain a fair and effective care system’.

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He pointed to ‘the lack of care and attention paid by the government to young people's voices and opinions’ and ‘the lack of pathways for young people in care, such as sustainable employment, career and personal opportunities’.

Miss McAllister told MLAs: “Those are not my words but the words of our young people who are living it, and they are the words of those who are able to speak up for themselves.

"We all know that there are others at a much younger age who enter the care system due to the failure of government to protect them and their families from the hardships that they face.”

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