320 search results for
Youth in care
Recommendation 118:
The provincial government must immediately review the care plans for all Indigenous children and youth currently in care and involve their Indigenous communities, especially extended family members and elders, in the care plan.
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Recommendation 12:
The provincial government must immediately raise welfare and disability rates to the Market Basket Measure (MBM), index them to the cost of living, and remove arbitrary barriers.
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- Ableism ,
- Accessibility ,
- Accessible services and technology ,
- Classism ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Disability and parenting ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Economic inequality ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Income insecurity and benefits ,
- Indigenous children and youth in care ,
- Poverty ,
- Poverty and economic inequality
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Recommendation 58:
The Province should advocate to the Federal government to ensure ineligible youth who have accessed the CERB are not accumulating debt during the pandemic. Youth should obtain a pass and not have to pay back CERB or be given longer grace periods.
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Recommendation 27:
MCFD must work with the Ministry of Public Safety & Solicitor General to develop a comprehensive strategy for parents that are incarcerated or on parole.
- The strategy must recognize that it is not always in the best interests of the child to remove a child from a parent or guardian that has had engagement with the criminal justice system.
- There must be supports to allow parents to have access with children in prison and while on parole. For example, the government should re-open the mother and baby unit in prisons.
- The policy should set out a strategy for expediting criminal checks so that no child’s placement is delayed because of a criminal record check.
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Recommendation 6:
The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and MCFD, should develop and implement a plan for mental health and substance use services for youth in care who are transitioning to adulthood. The plan should be developed in consultation with appropriate First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous representatives as well as young people with lived experience.
This plan should be integrated into A Pathway to Hope. It should specifically address the needs of the population of young people leaving care and the specialized services they need due to the inequities, adversities and trauma they have experienced in their lives before and while in care. The plan and all services should be trauma-informed and give particular attention and priority to First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous young people transitioning to adulthood.
The plan is to be developed by April 1, 2022, with full implementation being completed within the ensuing two years.
This plan should be integrated into A Pathway to Hope. It should specifically address the needs of the population of young people leaving care and the specialized services they need due to the inequities, adversities and trauma they have experienced in their lives before and while in care. The plan and all services should be trauma-informed and give particular attention and priority to First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous young people transitioning to adulthood.
The plan is to be developed by April 1, 2022, with full implementation being completed within the ensuing two years.
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Category and theme:
- Ableism ,
- Ageism ,
- Culture and language ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Economic inequality ,
- Health ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Income insecurity and benefits ,
- Indigenous children and youth in care ,
- Indigenous rights and self-governance ,
- Poverty ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public services ,
- Representation and leadership ,
- Substance use
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Recommendation 1:
The Ministry of Children and Family Development should fully implement and proactively support and monitor effective practice in planning for transition into adulthood, beginning at least by age 14 for youth in continuing care and extending beyond age 19. Principles of this transition planning process should include:
MCFD is to have developed a comprehensive plan by April 1, 2022 that addresses policy and practice guidelines, staff training and processes and mechanisms for support and monitoring of practice, with full implementation of that plan in the ensuing 18 months.
- Developmentally appropriate processes, aligned with the non-linear and complex process of transitioning to adulthood, and supporting the shift from dependence to interdependence, with relationships at the centre.
- Contextualization of the experience of Indigenous youth transitioning to adulthood within the experience of colonization and supporting the reclamation of culture and identity as critically important elements of the lives of emerging First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous young adults.
- Reciprocal processes, where youth agency is prioritized and youth are responsible and empowered to design a case plan representative of their goals, interests and support networks.
MCFD is to have developed a comprehensive plan by April 1, 2022 that addresses policy and practice guidelines, staff training and processes and mechanisms for support and monitoring of practice, with full implementation of that plan in the ensuing 18 months.
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Recommendation 11:
The majority of Canadian provinces have separate government bodies in place that provide legal counsel to children (Lovinsky, 2016). B.C. must also assume the responsibility for providing funding and personnel to secure legal representation for children in all guardianship and family law cases in order to adhere to the UNCRC’s recommendations and FLA’s best interest provisions, and to concur with the 2020 CBA report recommendations.
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Recommendation 16:
The literature has long supported specific incorporation of the CRC in all legislation relevant to children. It is particularly important in family law and child welfare cases but has not happened in B.C. (Brown, Findlay, Martinson, & Williams, 2021; CBA 2020; Andreychuk & Fraser, 2007; UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations: Canada, 2012). An example of the effective incorporation is found in Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CBA, 2020).
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Recommendation 13:
The language used in high-risk cases must be clarified to delineate between high conflict cases and cases with the presence of violence to ensure the appropriate safeguards are put into place to protect and promote children’s participation (Martinson & Raven, 2020a, 2020b; Brown, Findlay, Martinson, & Williams, 2021).
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Recommendation 13:
The incarceration of one parent often results in various forms of hardship for the rest of the family, particularly the children. Imprisonment disrupts positive, nurturing relationships between many parents—particularly mothers who are often the sole or primary caregiver—and their children. Children and their families suffer economic strain and instability when a parent is imprisoned. Family members are not guilty of anything. All agencies and services involved with the families should try to mitigate the impact on family members at all stages of the criminal justice system, ensuretheir rights are upheld, and ensure they are not discriminated against because of the actions of their family member. Supporting the families and strengthening the children’s positive family connections are necessary to ensure a healthy child development. Different forms of support are needed.
- Encourage the various agencies and services involved with the children to work towards positive family outcomes and to adopt consistent practices in the support of families and positive life outcomes for the children.
- Ensure that families understand the criminal justice process and are aware of the supports available.
- Provide information to families and ensure that the information provided is timely and accurate.
- Encourage and support parents and caregivers to explain procedures, decisions and the truth of the situation to children in an age appropriate manner.
- Ensure that families have access to information and assistance on a range of issues such as housing, benefits and finances, legal issues, health, or childcare.
- Facilitate appropriate contacts between family members and the incarcerated parent.
- Provide guidance to agencies dealing with families of parents in conflict with the law.
- Conduct family impact assessments when new policies and practices are developed that may affect the families of people in conflict with the law.
- Keep incarcerated parents informed about the situation and well-being of their children and other family members, and support them in managing family concerns as appropriate.
Enhancing the Protective Environment for Children of Parents in Conflict with the Law or Incarcerated: A Framework for Action
Group/author:
Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, University of the Fraser Valley – School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, University of the Fraser Valley – School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
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2018
2018
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