Kids in care forgotten, once again
Times Colonist
By Paul Willcocks
May 24, 2009

We had a fine family gathering on the long weekend. We kayaked and hiked in the sun.

… Kids in the government's care miss a lot. But I wonder if one of the most critical things is a life lived in ways that bring a sense of belonging, of being cared about and of caring for others who are going to be there for the long haul. Why couldn't we do that for them? It doesn't seem impossibly difficult or expensive.

Despite the efforts of people on the frontlines, no realistic person would claim we come even close to that for the 9,000 children in government care at any one time.

There are lots of caring people and some great successes. But often, kids get moved from temporary placement to a succession of foster homes. Social workers come and go; it's a tough job with excessive caseloads and inadequate support. Those children don't have anyone to pick them up if they stumble. They slam into the pavement.

And they sure don't have a chance to sit around with a bowl of sausage pasta and laugh about a family's prized oddness.

That seems a huge loss. Good intentions aside, every year thousands of kids feel like commodities. They might like the foster parents or group home workers. But they've learned not to get attached. People come and they go. Keep possessions down to the things you can put into a couple of duffel bags and hang on to them, not memories.

And at 19 -- on the day they turn that magic age -- they are on their own. The government figures its role as parent, or guardian, is over.

Which is nuts. Any responsible parent would tell you they have a role in their children's lives even after they turn 19. Sometimes especially after they turn 19, when life often becomes much more complicated.

That's one of the things that was missing from the election campaign. No party pledged to make sure children in care were raised as if they were in supportive families. Or that they would be supported until they had found their way as young adults -- found a job, earned a degree, built a life. (Or not, of course. Not everyone seizes opportunity.)

What we know is that we're doing a dismal job. A child who has ended up in the government's care is more likely to end up in the criminal justice system than to graduate from high school. That says nothing about the kids, or the people who work with them. It says a lot about us and the people we elect.

Things don't look like they will improve anytime soon. The Children and Families Ministry has been chronically underfunded. The budget introduced in February made things worse. This year, the ministry will make do with a one-per-cent funding increase; next year, one per per cent more than the year before; next year, less than one per cent. The year after, its budget is to be frozen.

That's hopelessly inadequate, given inflation and the rising demand for services that a recession inevitably brings. There is certainly no hope of making real progress on enormous issues like the problems in First Nations communities.

And it is our fault.

Footnote: The concern isn't just with the current inadequate budget, but the prospect of further cuts. Premier Gordon Campbell has committed to staying within the budgeted $495-million deficit. The reality is that new and unplanned deep cuts will be required to meet that target.