A new report entitled Kids, Crime and Care – Health and Well-Being of Children in Care: Youth Justice Experiences and Outcomes was released in BC today. Some of the text from the Press Release is below.
Click here to read the full Press Release.
VICTORIA, B.C. — A study by the B.C. Representative for Children and
Youth and the province's health officer calls on the government to act
as a more responsible parent to the children and youth in its care.
The
study – Kids, Crime and Care: Youth Justice Experience and Outcomes –
examined more than 50,000 children born in 1986 and who were in school
in 1997/98. It's the largest study of youth justice of its kind in
Canada.
The study released Monday found schools offer vulnerable
children family-type experiences that can put them on a path that keeps
them out of jail. But the report calls on government to pay closer
attention to the children at their schools.
The 88-page report
makes seven recommendations, including urging every school in British
Columbia to assign a staff member by next September to oversee the
education planning, monitoring and progress of children in government
care at their school.
There are about 9,000 children in government care in British Columbia.
"When
a child enters school, it is a significant transition in their life,
and an opportunity for new roles and responsibilities," said the joint
report by independent children's representative Mary Ellen
Turpel-Lafond and provincial health officer Perry Kendall.
"Negative
experiences that impact on this transition can have long-term
consequences, while a positive school experience can help create a
lifetime love of learning and healthy social relationships."
The
study found that less than one-third of children who get in trouble
with the law graduate from high school and the likelihood of graduation
for children who encounter the youth justice system is a dismal 13 per
cent.
"Youth involvement with the criminal justice system can
only be reduced in British Columbia if that education system is
strengthened to meet the needs of the children. It's quite clear,"
Turpel-Lafond said in a press conference following the release of the
report.
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