Some heartbreaking new statistics from the province are shining light on a serious issue within Alberta’s foster care system.
On Tuesday, Alberta’s Child and Youth Advocate released yearly data on the the number of current and former foster system kids who died over the past 12 months.
Alberta’s Child and Youth Advocate investigated the deaths of 47 children and youth who had been involved with the child welfare network. Advocate Terri Pelton’s office also investigated one serious injury case.
Senator Paula Simons says she’s pleased the government is finally releasing this data, but it proves that the biological families of foster care children need to be well prepared before their children return to their care.
“The number of children who are dying, either with their parents or in kinship care, should remind us that when children go back to their homes, we have to make sure supports are in place so families can cope,” she says.
“We can’t just return children home and close the door.”
Simons says this is especially true for Indigenous families, considering the disproportionate number of Indigenous youth represented in the findings.
At the time of their passing or serious injury, 12 were in care; 20 were receiving child intervention services; and 16 had received services within the prior two years. Eleven were under the age of six, and 35 were Indigenous.
“We have kids who die by violence, kids who die in a house fire, kids who are really being abandoned by the system that is supposed to care form them,” Simons says.
Of the 48 total cases reviewed – which spanned from April 1, 2023, to Mar. 31, 2024 –10 youths and children died from drug and alcohol abuse.
Pelton says it’s deeply concerning to see youth as young as 12 use substances, specifically referencing two teenagers who died at the ages of 16 and 17 from fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity.
The 48 investigative reviews will be compiled into a consolidated investigative review report that will make recommendations to government officials. It’s expected to be released in the fall.