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By rdnewsNOW Staff

April 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021

Child and Youth Advocate releases mandatory reviews concerning 15 young people

Mar 29, 2022 | 5:21 PM

Officials with the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate say a recently released report focuses on themes of coordinated service delivery, strengthening accountability, and providing services and supports to Indigenous young people.

The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate has released reviews into the circumstances of 15 young people who passed away between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. Officials say this mandatory report is the largest the office has released.

The circumstances of the young people included in this report are said to highlight common issues that persist despite numerous recommendations to government to address them. Strengthening the accountability of government to provide information to the public on the actions they are taking to address long standing and complex issues such as opioid deaths, youth suicide, Indigenous overrepresentation and cross systems supports for young people is required.

Officials note, the issues highlighted over the years are not new and are referenced in a number of reports and presentations to government.

The Mandatory reviews include two new recommendations:

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• The Ministries of Health, Education, and Community and Social Services should develop a process to ensure collaborative and coordinated service delivery for young people with intellectual and behavioural challenges and their families.
• The Ministries of Health, Education, Children’s Services, Justice and Solicitor General, and Community and Social Services should report their progress to a Committee of the Legislature on recommendations made to them by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate.

“The first recommendation deals with young people with intellectual or behavioural challenges and the ongoing supports they and their families need on a daily basis,” said Del Graff, Alberta’s Child and Youth Advocate. “Most of the young people reviewed in this report were not in care at the time of their passing, so it is important that existing collaborative policies and practices are applied consistently and adapted to their changing needs.”

The second recommendation focuses on government progress. Regular annual public reporting is thought of as essential, so children, youth and families experience better outcomes. The Child and Youth Advocate Act requires that a ministry must publicly respond within 75 days of receipt of a recommendation. It is said to be the only requirement for government related to recommendations by the OCYA.

“It remains deeply concerning that Indigenous young people continue to be overrepresented in government systems and the reviews that we complete,” reads a statement from the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. “In this report, 11 of the 15 youth were Indigenous and eight of these Indigenous young people were provided services outside of their home communities. There continue to be concerns for Indigenous young people’s ability to receive services and supports and remain connected to their family, community and culture.”

A copy of the reviews is available here: ocya.alberta.ca/adult/publications/investigative-review/.

The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate is an independent office of the Legislature of Alberta.

Backgrounder

(Office of the Child and Youth Advocate)

NDP Critic for Children’s Services Rakhi Pancholi issued the following statement in response to the Mandatory Reviews into Child Deaths report from the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate:

“I want to express my sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of the young Albertans described today in the Reviews into Child Deaths Report from the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. This is a devastating reminder that these are not just numbers in a report, that these are real children who were denied the chance to grow up.

“Once again, the Advocate is expressing how unprecedented this crisis is, and is once again calling for greater collaboration, transparency, and public accountability from the government on what they’re doing to protect these vulnerable young Alberta from harm.

“These children loved life. They were artistic. They loved to be outdoors. They had dreams, they had ambitions, they had plans for their lives as adults. The provincial government was legally responsible for seeing them safely into adulthood, and they failed. This is not the time for the UCP to continue being secretive and hiding information on how they are addressing this crisis.

“I will be looking into this report further in the coming days, but I once again urge the UCP to address the recommendations from the Advocate, and bring forward all Ministries to answer for the work they are doing — or not doing — to protect children.”