Does the provincial government know where its children are?

Years after promising better data collection, New Brunswick still isn’t keeping track of basic information about how youth are progressing under government care. The Department of Social Development has admitted that they are not tracking crucial data points such as high school graduation rates, post-secondary education attendance, criminal convictions, incarceration rates, struggles with addiction, homelessness, and unemployment among youth in care.

This lack of tracking is in direct contradiction to calls from the province’s child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock, as well as legislative changes introduced in 2022 that were meant to mandate the tracking of outcomes for children in government care. Lamrock has criticized the department for holding itself to a lower standard than parents, stating that if a parent didn’t know if their child had graduated or was in jail, Social Development would intervene. However, the department itself does not have this basic information.

In response to Lamrock’s concerns, former social development minister Bruce Fitch proposed changes to child welfare law to track outcomes of children under government care. While the legislation came into force in January 2024, the department still has not implemented the necessary tracking mechanisms. Current social development minister Cindy Miles has stated that the department is in the process of implementing the changes required by the law and expects to have graduation data collected and made public by late spring.

Despite the lack of data collection, as of December 2024, there were 735 children and youth in permanent care of the minister, and 489 in temporary legal care. The department’s register is used to keep case notes on children receiving social services, but this information is limited to the child’s disposition. Without better tracking, Lamrock argues that the province cannot assess the effectiveness of its services for children and youth in care.

Executive director John Sharpe of Partners for Youth has raised concerns about the lack of accountability to children in care, particularly in terms of their right to education. Sharpe points out that children in care face unique challenges that can make educational attainment more difficult, such as frequent changes in placement locations.

Jacqueline Gahagan, an associate vice-president at Mount Saint Vincent University, is studying educational attainment for former youth in government care. Gahagan notes that available data nationally show that youth in care are less likely to graduate high school and attend post-secondary education compared to their peers. This lack of educational attainment can have long-lasting consequences in terms of economic, social, and health outcomes.

Ultimately, Lamrock emphasizes that collecting and analyzing data on outcomes for children in care is crucial for informing better interventions in childhood and preventing costly issues such as homelessness, unemployment, and crime in the future. By tracking these outcomes, policymakers can make more informed decisions on how to support children and youth in government care and ensure they have the resources they need to succeed.