Review of P.E.I. foster care comes up with 32 recommended changes

A review of the foster care system on P.E.I. has resulted in a sweeping set of 32 recommendations for change, ranging from providing increased training for foster parents, to paying them more, to making foster children more involved in decisions around their own care.

The comprehensive review was conducted over the past two years by a committee including staff from Child and Family Services, representatives of the P.E.I. Federation of Foster Families and the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island.

"An overarching theme during the consultation process was the need to modernize and update the program in line with modern realities of society," according to the committee's summary of the 32 recommendations. 

In an interview, a staff person with the Department of Housing and Social Development couldn't say when the last thorough review of foster care took place.

In emergencies, children stay in hotel rooms

There are approximately 200 children in care in the province, living among 80 foster families and five group homes.

The province's manager of children's services Kelly Peck told CBC News that in emergency situations, when no foster placement could be secured, children have sometimes been housed temporarily in hotel rooms.

"The longest I would know about would be three or four nights," she said, adding that children were supervised around the clock by staff from child and family services.

One of the issues the review sought to address is a chronic shortage of foster parents on P.E.I.

Chief among the recommendations to address that: a review of compensation rates.

According to the report, foster parents said the rates "are quite dated and no longer reflect modern program realities."

'Not fairly compensated,' says one foster parent

One unnamed foster parent quoted in the report told the review committee the rates, which vary depending on the age of the child and the level of care required, do "not reflect the amount of work, training and time invested in raising the foster children of P.E.I. How can we expect new foster parents if they are not fairly compensated?"

Foster parents also raised concerns about pay rates for respite care, babysitting and school supplies. 

High turnover among foster parents, the report noted, "can result in an increased risk to not only the children who are dependent on alternative caregivers for their safety, but to the entire child welfare system itself."

"You're not doing it for the money," said Mary Noye, president of the Federation of Foster Families, in an interview with CBC. "But I think that's why we don't have more people stepping up."

Noye and her husband have been foster parents for the past nine years, caring for 60 children over that time.

"People say 'how can you do that?'" Noye said. "A lot of people do not understand. But I think making a difference in their lives is the biggest thing for me."

Minimizing number of transfers

Some things that would help bring more foster parents into the system, according to the report: a mentorship program where parents like Noye could help new foster parents become established, along with a handbook providing up-to-date information on policies and procedures.

The report calls on government to "start collecting, tracking and analyzing data in relation to the number of times a child is transitioned while in care," to minimize the number of times children are transferred between foster homes or group homes.

The committee said those transitions could be made easier for the children involved if government provided particulars to foster parents ahead of time regarding the child's likes and dislikes, and if more time was taken to introduce children with their new foster parents, saying children felt their initial contact largely involved  "an in-depth conversation regarding rules of the household."

'Aging out'

One significant problem the committee cited was with regards to children "aging out" of the foster care system when they turn 18.

Some children can continue to receive support from the system if they undertake post-secondary studies. In other cases the report said children are suddenly left to fend for themselves.

"Children frequently expressed great anxiety and fear of reaching the age of 18, a milestone typically met with much celebration and excitement."

Foster parents told the committee "many of the children in their care are not developed by the age of 18 and they expressed great concern, given the emotional and cognitive development of a child, that we are sending them out in the community to fail."

The report recommends more supports to allow foster children to remain with foster families after they turn 18, along with government transitional housing to help foster children establish themselves.

The committee also found some foster children are missing out on opportunities to take part in sports teams or cultural events, in some cases because of a lack of transportation, and in other cases because it takes too long for child and family services to provide the necessary authorization for a child to take part in an event.

Increasing access to transportation for families 

One recommendation is for transportation to be made available to foster families either using volunteer drivers, a private transportation company or existing school bus fleets.

The report also notes an "increased number of children from racialized groups requiring foster care" together with a low number of foster parents from those same groups.

To that end the report recommends "mandatory cultural plans" for Indigenous children placed in care, together with "more programming and cultural resources" for foster parents to ensure those children have "their unique identities respected and promoted."

Peck said the report has been delivered to Minister of Housing and Social Development Ernie Hudson.

"Together we can create a modern program that meets the needs of families and, more importantly, the children in our care," said Hudson in a written government release.

While the minister has approved all the report's recommendations, Peck said the next step is to create a working group to come up with an implementation plan and timeline.

No dollar figures have been attached to any of the recommendations thus far, and expenditures would require approval through the budgetary process, Peck said.

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