Fermanagh families sadness as 'lifeline' service to end

Extern’s community-based services were commissioned by Western Trust and have been running since 2012. Before 2012, Extern has been providing services in the West of Northern Ireland since 1985.

The respite service offered at Roscor Youth Village will continued to operate until June. 

Two parents who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity described the service as a "lifeline".

The services affected work directly with young people and their families referred directly to Extern via the Western Health and Social Care Trust.

Some of the young people referred to services would be considered as being on the edge of care or with complex needs.

All projects are based within local communities.

A mother of a teenage daughter who had been in her bedroom for the past “four to five years” said: “We’ve only had a short journey with Extern, but the process we’ve seen, I couldn’t have imagined it.

“Extern was the only successful service that actually had that got the child out of the bedroom, and they had worked really hard to make it work.”

Describing the positive changes in her daughter, the mum said: “She started to actually meet people in her peer group rather than a professional, and actually start to make friendships with social, emotional, and mental health wellbeing.

“It's just caused such a shock, and we are totally devastated.

“What’s been offered as a replacement service is to be on a waiting list for [an appointment] with a one-to-one youth worker, which won't do social, which won't do learning the skills of a group dynamic, and which won't be somebody of their own peer group or age range.”

The mum added: “It’s been hard for the actual workers of Extern because they were left on the frontline to communicate this to parents.

"They were left to deal with it and wrap it up [the services provided] with all the children and now, they are left on the front line to find themselves a job.”

A second parent, a father of three children under 13, who experienced a traumatic event and who are service users, described how he “can’t get his head around” the decision to end the service.

Speaking about finding a replacement service for the community-based programmes provided by Extern on behalf of the Western Health and Social Care Trust [Western Trust], he said: “I’ve always thought that prevention is better than the cure.

"You have children in the service from one extreme to the other, whether it is abuse, they have witnessed something or something unthinkable has happened.

"I don’t know what all the children have experienced. But, to get these children back on the right path, it is to show them that bad things have happened to you which weren't your fault, and hopefully will never happen again.

"This is how you can go forward, and you treat people, that might stop and break the cycle of what happened in their life, and then going out into the community, it just might change certain things in the community like crime and mental health.”

Describing the impact that the Extern service has had on his family, the father said: “My son is totally different to how he was. It was almost like he was able to go and flick a switch and be himself.

"It gives him and others a safe environment to be kids, and if they have to say anything to get it off their chest, they can relate to the workers something they might not want to mention to a family member or their social worker.”

He warned: “The longer a gap happens, it is harder for any child to build up a relationship [with facilitators] or they might get into a rut where they don’t want to go [to a new service]."

A spokesperson for the Western Trust said: “Trust-wide community-based programmes provided by the current provider Extern, i.e. Passport/Early Year and Youth Support will terminate on March 31.

“In order to continue to support families and reduce any impact this may have, the Trust has assigned a youth/family support worker to each of the 63 children and young people who are currently engaging in Extern programmes to provide ongoing support and explore alternative supporting services for these families."

The respite service offered by Extern, referred to as 'Time Out', based at Roscor Youth Village near Belleek [pictured], will continue to run until June, a Western Trust spokesperson confirmed.

"The contract for the Short Stay Break Service, currently known as the ‘Time Out’ provided by Extern has been extended until the end of June. The Trust-wide contract is currently out for tender with a closing date in April."

Roscor Youth Village was previously visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2019 where the couple spent time with service users and tried out the outdoor activities.

The Western Trust spokesperson concluded: “We would like to recognise and thank our Extern Colleagues for their commitment and dedication to our children and young people over the past 30 years.”