A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF JOURNALISM

in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Journalism)

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

(Vancouver)

April 2013

© Irina Sedunova, 2013

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my supervisor, Duncan McCue, for his hard work, his understanding, his ability to listen, and his support. It was a great experience to work with this amazing journalist.

I want to thank my secondary supervisor, Deborah Rutman, for her attention to detail, and her guidancethrough the complex topic that is B.C.’s foster-care system.

I also want to thank Violet-Rose Pharoah, a former child in care, for being sincere and brave enough to share her story with me.

 

DEDICATION

To my family, friends, and teachers

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

In September 2012, for the first time, the Census of Canada released the total number of foster children in all the provinces. In 2011, the nationwide figure was 47,885; of these, 7,005 live in British Columbia—the focus area of my research.

According to the office of the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth, every year about 600¹youth in British Columbia “age out of care” because they turn 19—meaning they are now considered adults, and are discharged from the province’s child welfare system.In B.C., aging out happens at age 19. This varies from province to province; in Ontario, for example, youth leave the foster-care system when they turn 18. Once a youth is discharged from the system, he/she no longer has a legal status “in care”—meaning that the parental role of the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) comes to an end. This occurs with finality, and without any further formal involvement of the governmental “parent,” regardless of the young person’s continuing needs for financial, emotional, and practical support.²

For such youths, exiting the foster care system is often a distressing time, as they find themselves unprepared for the hard realities of adulthood.³Experts say that former youth in care are more likely to be homeless, unemployed, and without education or healthcare. They usually lack any emotional support, and may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.⁴

In this paper, I ask the question: what does the B.C.’s child welfare system do to help these 600 youths who age out of care every year make a successful transition from foster care to independence?

The Challenges Of “Aging Out”

In 2003, a study by Tania Jacobs and Robin Everall, titled “How I Got There: Stories of Resilience in Foster-Care Alumni,” interviewed adults who had aged out of care and were attending post-secondary institutions in Canada. This study revealed that long-term involvement⁵ in the foster care system is associated with many emotional and behavioural challenges.⁶ The reason why children are in care in the first place might well affect them emotionally: they are likely to have already experienced trauma and developmental delays due to familial issues such as parental neglect or abuse, mental-health or substance-abuse issues, inconsistent parenting, chaotic living situations, or income insecurity.⁷ And while children are in care, many of them experience further emotional difficulties and/or trauma: they may be moved from one foster family to another—in some cases, up to thirty times.⁸ As Claire Trevena, MLA for B.C.’s North Island, said: “Moving children around from home to home certainly takes away any feelings of love or nurturing.”⁹ For example, John Dunn (now an executive director of the Foster Care Council of Canada¹⁰) was moved thirteen times during the sixteen years he was in care. In his 2002 CBC radio documentary, “Life in Foster Care is Like a Subway Ride,”¹¹ Dunn said that after several moves he became emotionally numb.

Children or youth who lived in foster care may experience many more emotional and behavioural problems than their “mainstream” peers. Part of the reason is that children in care lack “the family support that is important during stages of development, times of crisis, and special life events.”¹² One way their emotional and behavioural instability shows itself is that children in care are more likely to have trouble in school.¹³While in care, children frequently change not onlytheir foster homes but their schools as well; this fact could be linked to their poor educational outcomes. The article “The Educational Attainment of Children in Care in British Columbia,” byWayne Mitic and MaryLynne Rimel, suggested that when students change schools, they lose an average of four to six months of educational progress.¹⁴On average, in B.C. a child in care attends seven different schools by the age of 18.¹⁵When children move from one school to another, they often do not have time to develop connections with teachers and peers. This could raise their level of emotional distress.¹⁶

In 2007, data on educational and health outcomes for youth in care in B.C. suggested that only an estimated 21% of children in care graduate from high school, compared to 78% of the general youth population.¹⁷ According to an educational report from the office of the Representative for Children and Youth in B.C., of the almost 9,000 children in MCFD care in 2007, more than 7,000 would not finish high school.¹⁸ According to the MCFD “Public reporting of performance measures” report, in 2010–2011 only about 40% of children in care graduated from high school.¹⁹ Also, a significantly lower number of kids formerly in care pursue and complete post-secondary studies than their peers in the general population (Pecora et al., 2003).²⁰

In addition, according to Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the Representative for Children and Youth in B.C., children in care “are over-represented in the criminal justice system.”²¹In 2009, she and the provincial health officer studied 50,551 children born in 1986 who were attending school in the province.²² The report produced through this study²³ showed that 41% of children living under ministry supervision (either in foster homes or with relatives) were involved with the criminal justice system by age 21.²⁴

Despite all these challenges, youth in foster care must leave care when they turn 19. Once they are discharged, they no longer have access to housing, healthcare, regular financial assistance, or a social worker to call in emergencies. Overnight, they are simply abandoned—left on their own, with no financial assistance, no safety net, and with very little preparation for adulthood.²⁵ Most of the time they lack even simple practical skills, such as for budgeting, grocery shopping, meal planning, decision-making, and self-advocacy.²⁶ The report “When Youth Age Out of Care: Where To From There?” (an initiative of the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria) outlines the most common challenges and outcomes for youth leaving care.

The situation for youth who age out of care may be extremely difficult. They may not have completed their high-school education (Courtney et al., 2005; Schibler & McEwan-Morris, 2006; Tweddle, 2005)²⁷; they may lack personal stability and support, in the form of someone who cares how they are doing (Collins, 2001; Courtney et al., 2005; OACAS, 2006; Rutman et al., 2003); they may become parents at a young age (Mendes, 2003; Mendes, 2003; Tweddle, 2005); they may experience health issues and mental-health problems (Courtney et al., 2005); and they may struggle with issues of poverty, homelessness, and under-employment (Leslie & Hare, 2000; Mendes, 2003; OACAS, 2006; McCreary Centre Society,²⁸ 2007; Tweddle, 2005).

Studies in the last few years (2006–2012) show that the situation has not changed much: youth in care still faced the same challenges as they did twenty years ago. In fact, according to the 2003 report “Children in Care in Canada” (a summary of current issues and trends by the Child Welfare League of Canada, with recommendations for future research), in some respects the current state is worse than before. The Canadian research²⁹ mentioned in this summary estimates that the prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems among kids in care has risen from 30–40% in the 1970s and 1980s, to 48–80% in the mid-1990s.³⁰

The situation twenty years ago was described by Canadian journalist Martyn Kendrick in his 1990 book Nobody’s Children: The Foster Care Crisis in Canada. He reported on the problems that under-educated, unskilled and unemployed wards of the Crown experienced when transitioning from foster care to independence. As Kendrick wrote, these youth—while “still suffering the psychological consequences of alienation and abuse in their pre- and post-care surroundings”—had to enter society “grossly undereducated, unskilled and therefore unemployed, and confused, lonely, frustrated, and angry. Adolescents with these characteristics are destined for menial labor or welfare, and predisposed towards mental-health problems, suicide, homelessness, delinquency and, ultimately, prison.”³¹

The most likely source of support for such young people would seem to be the government. Thus, what does the B.C.’s child welfare system do to help youths who age out of care to make a successful transition fromfoster care to independence?

Post–Aging Out Support

During the period 1999–2005, four children who were in government care died in Northern B.C. Their deaths drew attention to issues of child protection, and raised questions about B.C.’s foster care system. The death of Sherry Charlie, a 19-month-old girl who was beaten to death by her caregiver,³² forced the government to take the more serious step of investigating B.C.’s child protection system. Retired judge Ted Hughes was appointed to conduct an independent review.

In 2006 Hughes released his report: “B.C. Child and Youth Review: An Independent Review of British Columbia’s Child Welfare System.” Hughes noted that youth involved with MCFD had minimal support during the transition process, and virtually none when they left care.³³ One of Hughes’s recommendations for MCFD was the reintroduction of post-majority programs (transition to adulthood, for 19- to 24-year-olds).³⁴

The MCFD did offer a few post-majority services, summarized in the report “Former Foster Care Youth in the Comox Valley: Options and Obstacles Facing Youth Ages 19–24 Who Have Left Care.”³⁵ These services, designed to help youths make the transition to independence, included an education assistance fund, a plan for medical coverage, provincial income assistance, and family connection programs.

There is a great demand for such post-majority services, even though they have several drawbacks. For instance, the Agreement with Young Adults (AYA) is a two-year funding program that supports transitioning youth up to the age of 24, and allows them to continue their education.³⁶ In 2012, about 200 such agreements were signed—that is, with approximately 30% of the young people who aged out that year in B.C. Still, a major concern is eligibility for this program. Youths must be under 19, and still in care, to apply. This means that kids who exit the foster-care system before the age of 19 (for instance, by being adopted) are not eligible for the program. As the MCFD’s 2012 Residential Review Project Report stated: “If adoption, transfer of custody, or an alternative permanent family arrangement, is attained for a young person in continuing custody prior to the age of 19, then they are no longer eligible for the AYA or other post-majority supports—which means that a difficult choice needs to be made between permanency, and access to much-needed post-majority supports.”³⁷

Another concern is that participants are only eligible for support for 24 months³⁸—a limitation that means that most foster youth are unable to complete undergraduate degrees, since these are usually four-year programs.³⁹ The Residential Review report suggests that in future, the AYA might be extended to five years. But it also notes that there are “considerable cost implications associated with extending the AYA program from 24 to 60 months.” On the other hand, “it is anticipated that the long-term outcomes for these young people will be significantly improved. This reasonable extension of support to young adults also reflects what many families provide to their own children.”⁴⁰ Ideally, the Ministry would extend access to AYA for the whole 19–24 age period—meaning that youths would be eligible until they reach the age of 24. However, since the AYA operates under B.C.’s provincial Child, Family and Community Service Act, the legislation cannot change immediately.

Besides the MCFD, B.C. has local, provincial, and national non-governmental organizations that offer services for children in and from care; however, they do not specifically target former youth in care. ⁴¹ One example is the non-governmental Federation of B.C. Youth in Care Networks (FBCYICN), located in New Westminster. FBCYICN refers young people in care to a variety of services, education programs, bursaries, leadership development programs, and training and skills-building opportunities. Young people can access “face-to-face transition support.” For adults who leave care, FBCYICN offers a Transitions Kit Bursary. However, but applying for this is a competitive process, and only two or three applicants from each region of B.C. are selected.⁴²

Other non-governmental organizations provide housing programs for at-risk youth; these include Covenant House, and Aunt Leah’s Place, which serve youth in the Lower Mainland. Finding a place to live is, after all, the biggest challenge for youth: when they age out of care, they no longer have housing. Where do they go? It’s impossible to have a successful transition without a roof over your head. However, it is difficult to define how many youth in such programs have been through care. There is no independent evaluation of these programs, and no figures are currently available. However, the annual report of Aunt Leah’s place shows that in 2010–2011, 58 young people went through The Link Program,⁴³ and 28 of them are continuing to access support.⁴⁴

In 2006, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) conducted a survey of 300 youth and 300 Children’s Aid Society staff. The survey revealed that the most helpful element for youth during the transition from care to independence is “ongoing and long-term emotional support—someone to call, someone to care, someone who would help when help was wanted.”⁴⁵

A similar American study, conducted in 2008 by the University of Chicago, also emphasized the importance of emotional support for youth who age out of care: it was the element most frequently noted as being both needed, and missed, by the young adults in foster care. The study went so far as to challenge the accepted definition of independent living, suggesting that it might be more important to teach young people how to build good relationships with others—in other words, that healthy adulthood consists of having more interdependent relationships.⁴⁶

The importance of emotional support for youth is shown by a study called Promoting Positive Mental Health Among Youth in Transition, conducted in B.C. in 2008. It found that the factors most strongly associated with mental health included the presence of supportive adults.⁴⁷This person might be an informal mentor, a friend, a psychologist, or a child-welfare professional. Most youth in the OACAS survey appreciated the personal contact with their social workers, and said that they wanted to stay connected with them “24/7/365” for at least five to ten years after they left care.⁴⁸ In the American study, young participants named their social workers as people they could not imagine their lives without. The Representative for Children and Youth also agreed that social workers should always keep their doors open for youth who left care. However, as the OACAS survey noted, this task is challenging to social workers, who are usually overloaded.

The New Trend

All young Canadian adults now live at home for longer. According to the Census, in 1981 only 26.9% of young adults aged 20–29 lived with their parents. But in 2011, 42.3% of young adults lived at home—either because they never moved out, or “because they returned home after living elsewhere.”⁴⁹

This trend represents a new challenge for the MCFD. Youths from care also want the option of going back “home”—that is, either returning to their foster-care families, or being able to contact their social workers, or staying in touch with their agency. One of the primary messages based on the OACAS responses was: “Youth should be permitted to make mistakes. Youth who leave care to become independent should be entitled to return to agency support, if they find they are not ready at any time before they are discharged.”⁵⁰

Bev Dicks, an Assistant Deputy Minister with the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development, said in an interview in January 2013 that the Ministry is looking at the possibility of extending foster-care support.⁵¹Some experts believe that this is the only way to help youths make a successful transition. The “Children in Care in Canada” report says that there is a growing consensus among service providers that the age of independence must be raised to 24—especially since, as noted above, the average age of emancipation for all young adults from their familial home has increased during the past decade (Dudding, 2003).⁵² Even as far back as 2007, the University of Victoria report (“When Youth Age out of Care”) recommended an age of 29. As it said, “Extending the age at which youth could remain in care, and have access to foster-care and guardianship services, resulted in better outcomes for youth in health, education and employment.”

A research project currently being conducted at the School of Social Work of the University of Washington, titled “Research on the Transition to Adulthood for Foster Youth: The Benefits of Extending Care,” points out how an extension of care might benefit foster youth. Evidence shows that allowing them to remain in care until age 21 offers these benefits:

• It increases their likelihood of pursuing post-secondary education.

• It is associated with increased earnings, and with delayed pregnancies.

• It increases their likelihood of receiving independent living services after age 19.

Another major benefit—not just to individuals, but to society—is that over the long term, extending care generates more profit than expense. Since young people who are educated contribute more to society than uneducated ones, the value of an extended care program exceeds its cost to government by approximately 2 to 1.⁵³ For this reason, according to the Assistant Deputy Minister, the MCFD is “actively” considering the extension of the aging-out period.⁵⁴

My conclusion, based on my research and interviews conducted, is that the government does provide youth who age out of care with some post-majority support. However, this support does not seem adequate. There is a great demand for post-majority services. The available government programs are limited, have high requirements,and are available to only a few former youth in care. Often the application process cannot be done without assistance. In situations when a young person’s application is denied, they have no ability to complain or appeal the decision. The Representative for Children and Youth in B. C. does not have a mandate to serve young adults who have aged out of care.⁵⁵

My Approach to Telling the Story

My contribution to the debate is to focus on Violet-Rose Pharoah, a former Crown ward who was in foster care for twelve years. She was adopted when she was three; at the age of nine she was transferred to the foster system, where she stayed until she aged out at 18. Although she received financial support until she was 21, the transition from care to adulthood was not easy for her. She had to overcome many challenges, including unemployment, alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, and early pregnancy.

Recently, in a more stable place in her life, Violet-Rose started a blog “The File Folder” that allows other young people who were in care to share their experiences. Her goal is to collect 365 successful stories with the goal of motivating kids whoare currently in care to make a more successful transition to adulthood. She remembers how lonely and unsupported she felt when she was discharged from care, and she knows that even today many youth feel the same way. She hopes now to build up a network of online support, to show other kids that they are not alone.

I propose to use Violet-Rose’s story as a way to introduce the topic of the challenges and difficulties that former youth in care experience, and what kind of support they need. I also want to address the issue of the services, programs, and solutions that could help kids to make a successful transition to adult independence. My plans include interviewing several people with experience of the foster-care field, including:

• Bev Dicks, the Assistant Deputy Minister of MCFD, about what programs are available to youth, and how existing programs might be improved.

• Melanie Mark, an Associate Deputy Representative of Child and Youth, about what kind of programs former youth in care are looking for.

• Michelle Clausius, Director of Communications at Vancouver’s Covenant House, about how the organization helps at-risk youth.

I hope that this documentary will raise public awareness about the challenges and problems of aging out. Violet-Rose’s biggest challenge with “The File Folder” project is that people who have been through care are often not comfortable speaking about their experiences.⁵⁶ I believe that helping Violet-Rose’s story to be heard will have a positive effect—both in the community at large, and among current and former youth in care. Young people may be inspired to speak out about the difficulties they experience—and, more important, how they overcome those difficulties to make a successful transition to independence.

My hope is that this greater awareness will lead to some positive social changes, such as strengthening the transition services for youth in care. According to Bev Dicks, a Deputy Minister Assistant of MCFD, families, caregivers and social workers are the ones currently responsible for smoothing the transition from care to adulthood. They should teach kids the practical skills such as budgeting, and cooking, and make sure they are ready to exit the care system. If teens are not yet ready to leave care at 19, I believe they should have the option of staying longer with a family, or with an agency.

Another hope I have for this project is that it might encourage more discussion about the extension of foster-care support. However, I believe this extension should not be mandatory. As the latest report from the B.C. Representative for Children and Youth noted, ministry support could be extended only to youth for whom an extended period of support will be necessary.⁵⁷

Of course, many more improvements could be made, and perhaps should be made. However, before any of these can be implemented, other changes will be required—to legislation, to funding, and to the level of support from the provincial government.

 

REFERENCES