INTERNATIONAL CHILD AND YOUTH CARE NETWORK
10 MAY 2002
http://www.cyc-net.org/
Youth in three Canadian provinces fall through the legislative cracks
10 MAY 2002
http://www.cyc-net.org/
Youth in three Canadian provinces fall through the legislative cracks
Former street kid: older teens at risk
Three provinces have ignored a recommendation to broaden their Family Services Acts to protect more at-risk teens, says a former street kid who worked on a Youth In Care Network study. The act doesn’t define 16- and 17-year-olds as children, which means kids are falling through the cracks and living on the streets, says Roch Longueepee.
He ended up on the street when he was 16 because, he says, the province wasn’t obligated to continue to care for him.
The National Youth In Care Network released a report this week that estimates about 3,400 teens in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Ontario are denied protection each year.
Longueepee was part of the Nova Scotia Council For The Family, which was asked by the province to submit a report recommending changes to the Family Services Act.
The council said in 1999 the province should change legislation to include 16- and 17-year-olds as children. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Canada ratified in 1991, defines children as persons up to 18 years old.
Community Services Department spokesman Steve Bone said the province cares for 393 youth in that age group and provides income assistance to another 250. “There are services being provided,” he said, but he acknowledged the province isn’t legally obligated to provide this help.
As part of the council’s report, Longueepee, now 32, met kids who had been in the care of the province until they turned 16. Some lived in abandoned cars, while a boy named Julian lived in an alley beside Park Lane. “He was sleeping on a concrete slab and rats were crawling in there through the night,” said Longueepee.
“It’s really distressing to think we have kids and youth living in conditions like this in our country. There’s no excuse for it.”
Three provinces have ignored a recommendation to broaden their Family Services Acts to protect more at-risk teens, says a former street kid who worked on a Youth In Care Network study. The act doesn’t define 16- and 17-year-olds as children, which means kids are falling through the cracks and living on the streets, says Roch Longueepee.
He ended up on the street when he was 16 because, he says, the province wasn’t obligated to continue to care for him.
The National Youth In Care Network released a report this week that estimates about 3,400 teens in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Ontario are denied protection each year.
Longueepee was part of the Nova Scotia Council For The Family, which was asked by the province to submit a report recommending changes to the Family Services Act.
The council said in 1999 the province should change legislation to include 16- and 17-year-olds as children. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Canada ratified in 1991, defines children as persons up to 18 years old.
Community Services Department spokesman Steve Bone said the province cares for 393 youth in that age group and provides income assistance to another 250. “There are services being provided,” he said, but he acknowledged the province isn’t legally obligated to provide this help.
As part of the council’s report, Longueepee, now 32, met kids who had been in the care of the province until they turned 16. Some lived in abandoned cars, while a boy named Julian lived in an alley beside Park Lane. “He was sleeping on a concrete slab and rats were crawling in there through the night,” said Longueepee.
“It’s really distressing to think we have kids and youth living in conditions like this in our country. There’s no excuse for it.”
By BEVERLEY WARE
http://www.canada.com/halifax/news/story.asp?id={5FB072A8-FC85-46D0-95A6-ED9C4CC4E7EF
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