Hay naciones donde la gente vive en cautiverio, en miedo y silencio. Yo creo, un día desde los campos de prisiones y celdas de tortura y del exilio los líderes de libertad surgirán. El mundo debería pararse con el pueblo oprimido, hasta el día de su libertad finalmente llegue. . - Tsakhiagiin Elbegdory
New support for teens in foster care is a smart move: Editorial
The province of Ontario will now support kids in foster care who are still in high school until they are 21.
Mrs. Minister Tracy MacCharles:
The collapse of good conscience and the absence the accountability and
public scrutiny have led to crimes against humanity and violations of
international law. .- Nelson Mandela
Jim Rankin / Toronto Star
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Changes announced by Children and Youth Services Minister Tracy
MacCharles should make the lives of Ontario’s 64,00 Crown wards easier.
On Lindsay’s 18th birthday she woke up in her
foster care home and promptly moved to a student rooming house. That’s
because under policy set by the Ontario government, the payments her
foster care family received to support her dried up the moment she
turned 18. It didn’t matter that she was still in Grade 12.
Understandably, her grades dropped and she didn’t graduate from Grade 12 that year.
Lindsay is just one example of what happens to
kids in foster care when they are arbitrarily cut off from the foster
families who have been caring for them.
But as of this past week that won’t happen to teens like Lindsay anymore. Under smart and long-overdue policy changes, funding to foster families will continue until Crown wards who are still in high school turn 21.
That is good news for the 3,400 young people
between 18 and 21 who could be eligible for the extra support. They are
often still in high school when they reach 18 because of the emotional
and physical disruptions they have faced in their lives.
In fact, as reported by the Star’s Laurie
Monsebraaten, just 46 per cent of Ontario children in foster care and
group homes complete high school, compared to about 84 per cent of their
peers with permanent families. As a result, they are more likely as
adults to be poor, homeless, suffer mental health problems and be
involved in the criminal justice system.
Four other policy changes announced by
Children and Youth Services Minister Tracy MacCharles should also make
the lives of Ontario’s 64,00 Crown wards easier.
To help more of these young people find
permanent families, the province announced it will spend $4.9 million
over three years to support adoption recruiters.
As well, subsidies available to families who
adopt kids between the ages of 10 and 18 will now be available for those
aged 8 to 21. Further, those subsidies will be increased to $12,400
from $11,400 per child, while the income threshold for receiving them
will rise to $93,700 from $85,000.
These are both welcome changes for the kids
and money-saving moves for the province. Subsidies for adoptive families
amount to only about 60 per cent of the average cost that Children’s
Aid Societies pay foster parents in Ontario. As well, research shows
that children and teens who grow up in permanent homes are more likely
to graduate from high school, hold a job and contribute to their
communities.
It’s not just the right thing for the province
to give these kids a helping hand. It’s a fiscally prudent move that
will make a big difference in their lives as they become adults.
MRS. Minister Tracy MacCharles: The Nazis in the concentration camps showed more
humanity with the children because by sending the victims to the gas chambers
were putting an end its suffering?
MRS. Minister Tracy MacCharles: The Nazis in the concentration camps showed more
humanity with the children because by sending the victims to the gas chambers
were putting an end its suffering?
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