The Western Area Children and Young Peoples Committee was established in 1998.

The Committee acts as a forum for bringing together the agencies and bodies involved with identifying the needs of, and developing services for, children and young people in need.

The vision of the Committee is to create a network of services provided by statutory and voluntary sectors, centred on children and sensitive to parents and carers, characterised by agreed standards of quality, focused on need, and integrated in planning and delivery.

The Children’s and Young Peoples Committee comprises of a core group of representatives from:

Health and Social Services;

Education and Library Boards;

The Voluntary Sector;

The Probation Board for Northern Ireland;

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive;

The Police.

The Committee has the responsibility for overseeing the production of Children’s Services Plan. The issues to be considered within the Report include:

the assessment of children’s needs;
examination of current levels of services;
the need for consultation with people who have used the services, with the voluntary sector and the District Council representatives;
requirement to convene joint strategic planning and where indicated, joint commissioning.