Changes to Education for Foster Children in Manitoba

Keep Manitoba foster kids in care until 21:
reportDate : Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The Manitoba government should retain responsibility of foster youth past age 18, at least until 21, says a report by the province's children's advocate.

It's among 45 recommendations in the 97-page report, on the struggles foster youth face when they leave Manitoba's child welfare system, that was released Wednesday by Billie Schibler.

Schibler noted that many youth still need support when they become young adults.

"Once they reach age of majority, they are let go out onto their own, without adequate supports in place," she told a news conference Wednesday at her downtown Winnipeg office.

"Many of them have been severed from their families, from their communities of origin, and are really struggling with other issues that they've faced through trauma in their life."

In response to Schibler's report, Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh established several education and transition programs, at a cost of about $240,000.

He also asked a committee already reviewing ways to overhaul the child welfare system to examine the report.

However, Mackintosh said he would not commit to Schibler's primary recommendation of extending care to foster youth over 18.

1,600 youth 'aging out' in 3 years
Nearly 1,600 Manitoba youth will be "aging out" of foster care over the next three years, Schibler said. Of those, 70 per cent are aboriginals and nearly 30 per cent have diagnosed disabilities.

She added that many youth who are released from the child-welfare system do not complete high school, and end up vulnerable to drugs, gang violence and the sex trade.

"Society owes them. And we all know that it will put some significant drains on the other systems in the end anyway, so why not be proactive?" she said.

Schibler's report recommends the province extend foster-care services to at least age 21. It says the province should extend the maximum age eligibility for certain programs to 25.

The report also recommends offering more child welfare services - such as life-skills training, transitional housing and counselling - to foster youth over 18, so they can be more independent as adults.

Schibler suggested a tracking system to monitor how kids do once they become adults.

"We know that young people are staying well into their 20s and beyond in the comforts of their family home, and through those supports," Schibler said. "And then once they do exit, they still have the supports of their family."

Please see Children's Advocate Website in Manitoba for more information.