ANDREA| Lived Experience Advocate (@careawareandrea) 's Twitter Profile
ANDREA| Lived Experience Advocate

@careawareandrea

Care Experienced Advocate & Speaker with FASD 🌻 EPIC Youth Council 🗣️| Alice Academy for Activists Alum 2024| Irish Independent Rising Star 2025 ⭐️

ID: 1137319187653824512

calendar_today08-06-2019 11:23:19

101 Tweet

169 Followers

423 Following

Brendan Smith (@brendansmithtd) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Good to meet up today with EPIC Youth Council to mark Care Day 2025. Care Day is important for building positive visibility of children and young people in care, and their contributions and successes. #careday25 EPIC, Empowering People in Care

Good to meet up today with EPIC Youth Council to mark Care Day 2025. Care Day is important for building positive visibility of children and young people in care, and their contributions and successes. #careday25 <a href="/epicireland/">EPIC, Empowering People in Care</a>
ANDREA| Lived Experience Advocate (@careawareandrea) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Happy #CareDay25! Honored to have spoken in Leinster House yesterday on the urgent need for aftercare reform. Every young person leaving care deserves support to thrive—we need a truly care-aware society. Change is possible when we listen, learn, and take action. EPIC, Empowering People in Care

ANDREA| Lived Experience Advocate (@careawareandrea) 's Twitter Profile Photo

It was an honor to speak alongside Kai Brosnan (He/Him)🏳️‍⚧️ who highlighted the true impact #CareDay25 can have, and Emily Hanbidge who shared the importance of having a loving foster placement. Powerful voices driving real change and policy for children in care and care leavers. EPIC, Empowering People in Care

ANDREA| Lived Experience Advocate (@careawareandrea) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Very powerful & relatable words here from Rory Brown It was hearing stories like his while I was in foster care that gave me the courage to speak out about my experiences &embrace the care community fully it shows that positive stories are so important for young people in care.

ANDREA| Lived Experience Advocate (@careawareandrea) 's Twitter Profile Photo

My close friend Chelsea is walking over 310,000 steps this March in support of Breakthrough Cancer Research As someone who has seen the impact of this illness, I urge everyone to donate if they can or even share. Every step counts! ❤️🙏 #CancerResearch 🔗idonate.ie/fundraiser/Che…

EPIC, Empowering People in Care (@epicireland) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Andrea: "The care system is very crisis led - a problem can get very bad [for a young person] before they step in. When I did get the supports, the majority of the time, they were very good, but support should be continuous."

EPIC, Empowering People in Care (@epicireland) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Andrea explains what aftercare is and says "Aftercare support should be assessed based on need, not just on whether you are in education or not."

The Irish Foster Care Association (@ifcainfo) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Well done to the young people who co-designed this toolkit and to EPIC, Empowering People in Care for leading this important work! Let's work together to ensure all children in care get the education they deserve #takecare #educationforall

Rory Brown (@rorybrown23) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Finally, after 5 years of work, we have created a resource for educators across the country to access to help them become #careaware and help them understand the care system in a professional manner and from the perspective of children that have been in or left the care system.

EPIC, Empowering People in Care (@epicireland) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Take Care is a new toolkit designed to help schools better understand & support children & young people in care 🧰 Developed with care-experienced youth, this guide provides insight into their school experiences & the challenges they face 🧑🏽‍🏫 epiconline.ie/take-care-tool…

EPIC, Empowering People in Care (@epicireland) 's Twitter Profile Photo

#JobFairy We are recruiting for an advocate to join our National Advocacy Service team. This role involves working directly with care-experienced youth to promote their participation in decisions about their care & ensuring their views are considered. epiconline.ie/work-with-us/a… ✏️

#JobFairy

We are recruiting for an advocate to join our National Advocacy Service team. This role involves working directly with care-experienced youth to promote their participation in decisions about their care &amp; ensuring their views are considered.

epiconline.ie/work-with-us/a… ✏️
Celine O Connor (@celineoconnor12) 's Twitter Profile Photo

#Grace I think the only positive thing that can come out of this report will be general acceptance that these types of commissions do not work. Safeguarding reports need to be completed timely by experts in the field & have clear findings & recommendations m.independent.ie/irish-news/pol…

Thomas O Driscoll (@thomasod10) 's Twitter Profile Photo

Would you send your own child out into the world at 18 with; no support, no safety net, no one to call? Of course not. But that’s exactly what we do to young people leaving care in Ireland. Every. Single. Day. We must do better - Norma Foley T.D jrnl.ie/6712573