Child care experts have responded to plans for a possible orphanage in Bermuda.

Sunshine League executive director Denise Carey said the Island already has facilities catering to children.

What is needed is independent living for displaced, high functioning teens and young adults between 17 and 22, she said. "From what I have seen, that is where the gap lies," Ms Carey said. An application listed in the Official Gazette described plans to develop "low cost housing for seniors and an orphanage or children's home" on a vacant lot on Spice Hill Road, in Warwick.

Project architect Geoff Parker said there were no specific plans for the facility yet. He said his client wanted to give back to the community and was now testing the idea.

Ms Carey said: "Bermuda has services for young people and services for adults but the gap is for the teens and young adults who are hard-working, academically inclined but who do not have a strong family support system.

"When children are placed at the Sunshine League, Brangman Home or Oleander Cottage and age out of the system, where do they go? When parents with multiple older children are unable to afford an apartment but can live with a friend, where do their children go?"

Coalition for the Protection of Children chairwoman Sheelagh Cooper said her group was eager to learn more about the proposal.

However she said the idea of an orphanage "in this day and age is a little frightening".

In her view Bermuda's most pressing need was housing for disadvantaged families.

She said the Coalition would back such a plan "in a heartbeat", including assistance with financing. "Children need to be with their parents, and what we really need is homes for mothers and children — a therapeutic environment where we can work with entire families. "That's been a dream of the Coalition for a long time and what we've been working towards, and we'd definitely support it," she said.