Summary
By Shari Narine
Windspeaker Contributor
EDMONTON
A young First Nations man murdered nine months after leaving government care is the focus of the latest investigative report by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate (OCYA).
The report includes a single recommendation: That the ministry understand and implement policies it already has in place for children transitioning out of care.
It’s a concern that has been raised by the OCYA for 20 years, and specifically addressed in a special report undertaken in 2013, called ‘Where do we go from here? Youth aging out of care.’
It’s a recommendation that Advocate Del Graff hopes will be heard in today’s climate.
“I’m hopeful that we’re coming to a different time related to how child welfare services need to change,” he said.
Graff points to the new ministerial panel on child intervention. He says issues like the ones outlined in the latest investigative report need to be reiterated and made clear to both the panel and the public.
“These are issues that are resolvable now,” he said.
The report, released March 14, outlines the tragic life of Peter (not his real name), who first came into government care at two years of age. He was in and out of kinship care and group homes, both on and off-reserve for 16 years.
Peter experienced the deaths of his parents and grandparents over a four-year-period. With the loss of his grandmother, Peter also lost his cultural grounding. When Peter was 17, his brother died. While in care, Peter abused substances, was involved in criminal activity, and was hospitalized for overdose and suicide risk.
Graff referenced the December 2015 report his office undertook regarding Makayla, 17 years old, who also experienced trauma. The recommendations from that report – which Graff said held true for Peter – included assessing the impact of traumatic events on the young person and taking steps to directly address those traumas.
As Peter neared his 18th birthday, he refused the offer of further child intervention services for when he aged out of the system.
Graff believes that had transition planning for Peter been started sooner than it was, there would have been a better chance of him accepting the offer for guidance and help when he became a legal adult. Graff also notes that Peter may have been more welcoming to offers from the system had he found the earlier interventions helpful.
Graff says the death of Peter, a young man with artistic talent and strong in sports, is tragic, and despite the hardships and heartbreaks he faced, this should not have been the outcome.
“We see, often times, young people who make that change in trajectory and they do that because they find adults who are healthy and supportive and are there when the young people need help. I’ve never met a young person who’s risen above those kind of circumstances who couldn’t tell me specifically by name those people who made the difference for them,” said Graff.
“That’s what makes me hopeful,” he added. “We have young people who we are in contact with who, on a day to day basis, manage through some very difficult times because they find those kinds of resources.”
In a written statement, Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee said the department had begun implementing changes to address the long-term impact of grief and trauma, and were continuing to adapt practises to meet the needs of youth transitioning out of care.
“We are developing a Cultural Understanding Framework to support staff to deliver services in a way that promotes better outcomes for Indigenous children, youth and families. Given the legacy of residential schools and intergenerational trauma in Indigenous families, we want to acknowledge the importance of continuing our work towards reconciliation,” said Larivee.