How best to deal with children under government care was among the topics Manitoba’s three major political parties debated in the weeks leading up to the April 19 election.
The Liberal party said March 30 that the current funding model is backwards and that more resources need to be directed towards prevention and fewer towards apprehension to ensure apprehension was a last resort.
“We have over 11,000 children in care and a disproportionate percentage of these children are indigenous,” said Fort Richmond Liberal candidate Kyra Wilson. “We have more children in care today than we did at the height of residential school. Internationally Manitoba is know as the province with the highest apprehension rate in the world and this is very concerning for me and I think it should be concerning for everyone else because we have so many children in care.”
Wilson said as much as three-quarters of money spent on child and family services should be directed towards prevention programs that support families.
The NDP released a statement the same day expressing disappointment that the Liberal party would not commit to customary care, which enables indigenous communities to provide traditional care for children via flexible financial supports.
“This is a monumental system change that indigenous leaders and families across the province have called for anD support,” said the statement. “Our Building Futures program provides comprehensive wrap-around transition services to youth 16 to 25 in care of formerly in care, and we will continue to strengthen those supports. A re-elected NDP government will also provide free tuition to children in care.”
The Liberals said they would change legislation so that children in care remain wards of the government until 21 unless they opt out at age 18, the opposite of the way it works now. They would also make is possible for extensions of care to the age of 25 to give youth a greater chance of successfully transitioning to independence.
Progressive Conservative leader Brian Pallister said April 7 that if his party forms government it will pass a Protecting Children Act to make it easier for government agencies, community service providers and law enforcement agencies to share information regarding victimized and at-risk children. The final report of the inquest into the death of Phoenix Sinclair by Ted Hughes noted thAT co-ordination between agencies that deliver child welfare services was lacking.
“We need to listen and respond to front-line service providers who say this is an essential tool to help them help children,” said Pallister. “This legislation is the necessary first step towards the establishment of a made-in-Manitoba collaborative model that puts children first.”
