“Calls for Change” for Children and Youth in Care falling on deaf ears as child poverty climbs to pre-pandemic levels

EDMONTON - Following the release of the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate’s (OCYA) Annual Report and special Calling for Change Consolidated Report for 2023-2024, Public Interest Alberta is demanding the UCP minister for children and family services, Searle Turton, restore the age eligibility for young Albertans beyond 22.

“Enough is enough. The Advocate is calling for change and the UCP government must heed the call,” said Bradley Lafortune, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “How many more young Albertans have to die in care before this government restores services and strengthens the system with trauma-informed care and programs? The numbers speak for themselves: in Alberta nearly 1 in 5 children live in poverty, which takes us to an appalling number we haven’t seen since before Alberta child poverty rates were cut in half between 2015 and 2017. ”

“When we have 47 reports from the Advocate of young people who passed away in the context of skyrocketing child poverty, and the UCP minister says youth are more ‘resilient’ now and won’t commit to changes, something is terribly wrong,” said Lafortune. “The UCP government won’t even commit to restoring or expanding the eligibility criteria for the TAP program to help support Albertans transitioning out of care. Meanwhile our research shows that child poverty in Alberta has gone up by 2.1 per cent for kids under 18 and by 2.6 per cent in kids under 6.” 

The OCYA released their annual report and special review report last week but the UCP Minister has not committed to making any real changes to the system, despite calls from the Independent Officer’s new recommendations, which include restoring support for young Albertans transitioning out of care.

“What this tells us is that Alberta’s youth and young people in care are not a priority for the UCP government,” said Lafortune. “Instead, they’re busy passing laws that will benefit their friends and lobbyists in auto insurance and attacking the rights of gender diverse young Albertans.”

“Public Interest Alberta will be releasing its annual Alberta Child Poverty Report very soon, and it’s not going to paint a rosy picture,” said Lafortune. “Nearly 20% of young people live in poverty, while funding, programs, and supports have been cut or taken offline by the UCP. Children deserve better than this, and we will continue to advocate for the solutions we know are right there in front of this government.”