REGINA – The latest report from Saskatchewan’s Advocate for Children and Youth is critical of a provincial plan he believes isn’t being followed.
Bob Pringle says the government’s Child and Family Agenda – which aims to guarantee youth “become a high priority in the province” – has not been properly implemented over the last five years.
“Far too often, we find that children’s rights are not at the forefront of decision-making,” Pringle said. “Service providers are not working together to provide services to children and youth in a coordinated, holistic way.”
Pringle says that was made clear in the recent inquest into the death of Lee Bonneau, who was in foster care in 2013 when he was killed by another boy.
The advocate investigated 23 child deaths in 2014 compared to 26 deaths in 2013. Social services reported 41 critical injuries, 44 per cent of which were believed to be suicide attempts or self-harming injuries.
Corrections issues
Pringle once again railed against the government’s transfer of young offenders from Saskatoon’s Yarrow Youth Farm to the higher-security Kilburn Hall.
Yarrow was an open custody facility where inmates could leave for activities, but Pringle says the Ministry of Corrections didn’t listen to concerns his office presented about programming and several locked doors at Kilburn.
“Telling us what you’re going to do is not consulting with us,” Pringle said. “We used to be consulted. We didn’t always agree, but we always felt we would at least have our view taken into consideration.”
A spokesperson for Corrections said Thursday that all programming needs for offenders are being met.
First Nations youth
The report also touches on issues for First Nations and Metis children, saying the group is “the most vulnerable in our society” and are over-represented in the child welfare and youth justice systems.
Pringle urges the federal government to reduce the number of Aboriginal children in care and create equal child welfare funding on reserves.
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