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Kids in B.C. government care have higher death rates than other kids: report
DIRK MEISSNER - CP
September 22, 2006
Children in B.C. government care have the same hopes, dreams and aspirations as other kids, but they have much greater hurdles to reaching them, says a report prepared for the province's children watchdog.
They have higher death rates, higher physical and mental illness rates and higher teen pregnancy rates, says the report by Jane Morley, B.C.'s child and youth officer, and Dr. Perry Kendall, the provincial officer of health. "Many children in care have the resilience to overcome the obstacles they face," says the report released Wednesday.
"However, children in care are known to have generally poorer outcomes than children in the general population."
The Morley-Kendall report examined health data for children in government care between 1986 and 2005 and found the results concerning.
It found that kids who end up in government care are more likely than kids in general to have come from socially or economically challenging backgrounds that may have included abuse, neglect or a serious medical condition.
Mental disorders aren't common for kids in the general population, but they are experienced by about 65 per cent of children in ongoing government care - four times the rate for children who have never been in care.
Children in care were prescribed more medication more often and for longer periods of time. For example, they were prescribed Ritalin-type medications up to 12 times more often than children who had never been in care.
If kids in government care ended up in hospital, they were there more than twice as often and usually for longer.
Young women in care were more than four times as likely to become pregnant than those in the general population, the report found.
The report says the gap between death rates for children in care and those in the general population is narrowing, but there are still pronounced differences.
Children in government care died of natural causes at a rate more than four times the rate for the general population and they died of external causes at more than three times the rate of other kids.
"While death rates are not ideal indicators of children's health, they are traditionally and internationally accepted measures," the report said.
"They also represent the most extreme adverse outcome."
In October 2005, there were 9,080 children in care in British Columbia. Sixty per cent were in continuing care, while 40 per cent were in temporary care.
The report contains 13 recommendations, including a ban on smoking in foster homes, something Kendall called a "no brainer."
Children's Minister Tom Christensen said some government programs for children in care show promising drops in death and injury rates.
But he said the report indicates more can be done.
"The trends tend to be pretty positive in terms of the numbers getting better over time. That suggests to me that the services being provided are making a difference over the last number of years," Christensen said.
"But it also emphasizes to me that we still have a long way to go to ensure we're best meeting the needs of these children."
The Opposition's children's critic said the report indicates the government isn't doing enough to continue helping children in care once they reach 19 years and are legally considered adults.
"There seems to be a huge gap here in how services are provided into adulthood," said New Democrat Maureen Karagianis. "Suddenly at 19 they are seen as no need for further support."
Other recommendations for government include:
-Boosting efforts to connect aboriginal kids in care with their cultural and community roots. Forty-nine per cent of kids in care were aboriginal, although aboriginal children make up only seven per cent of the population.
-Educate children and youth in care and their foster parents and social workers about anxiety and depression and how to manage those conditions.
-Consult with the College of Physicians and Surgeons about determining whether the prescribing practices of doctors treating children in care are appropriate.
-Collaborate with academics to conduct research into whether kids in care are being appropriately medicated with cerebral stimulants.
-Develop a plan for youth leaving care who require adult services.
Child deaths have become a hotbutton issue for Premier Gordon Campbell's government.
Campbell admitted earlier his government failed to properly review the deaths of more than 700 children, some of whom were in government care. Many of the children's files were found in a Victoria warehouse.
The discovery of the files and the intense political fallout saw the government appoint former judge Ted Hughes to review the mishandling of child-death reviews.
Hughes called for the appointment of an independent children's representative to oversee children's issues in British Columbia. The B.C. legislature is expected to appoint a children's representative this year.
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