Breakdowns in foster care account for more than half the admissions of children to residential units, a childcare expert has said.
Father Ken McCabe, director of the Lillie Road Centre Group of Homes in London, said many children reject fostering on the grounds that they already have families.
The Lillie Road Centre is the organiser of a lecture on "The Marginalised Child" which the President, Mrs McAleese, will deliver in Dublin at the end of the month.
"Fostering is a good option but does not meet the needs of all," said Father McCabe. The aim of residential care, he said, should be to work with the child and the family so the child can return home.
`Regular contact with each child's family is vital," he said. "No young person should be in care for too long."
He cautioned against placing children in secure units where they are, in effect, locked up.
"Only in extreme situations should children be locked up. Every time a key is turned in a locked room, a child experiences desolate dejection. It is important, however, to say that some out-of-control youngsters need a short, secure period to settle down."
Good residential care can give both the child and the family the space to address their difficulties, Father McCabe said. Children who are likely to end up in care "can be detected early on".
"That is the time for intervention," he said. "Community programmes are often the answer. Even at that stage, residential care should be considered. Space away from the family can allow good work to be done with the young person and with the family. At the earliest opportunity, the child can be returned home."
President McAleese's lecture, in Jurys Hotel, Ballsbridge, on the last Monday of the month, will be introduced by Mr Justice Declan Costello. Mr Michael Mansfield QC will respond to President McAleese, and the event will be chaired by Prof Anthony Clare.