Manitoba not alone in hotel foster care

Five other provinces use rooms in emergencies, but not Alberta

A day after Manitoba said it would abandon the placement of foster children in hotels, several other provinces confirmed they, too, engage in the practice, although it appears to happen with much less frequency.

Those provinces, which include Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, said such placements are rare and done on an emergency or short- term basis, but child- welfare advocates said they shouldn’t happen at all.

Children often enter the system under chaotic circumstances and may need ongoing medical or psychological attention, said Gord Phaneuf, chief executive of the Child Welfare League of Canada.

“When you hear they’re going into a hotel or a temporary arrangement, it should be a siren call to all of us,” he said. “Children coming into care require placements with caregivers who are trained, supported and who provide safe protection, nurturing and consistency.”

In a tearful news conference this week, Manitoba’s family services minister vowed to end all hotel placements by June 1. Kerri Irvin-Ross made the declaration after a teenage girl, who had been placed in a downtown Winnipeg hotel, was viciously assaulted outside the hotel.

The minister had committed to moving away from so- called lastresort hotel placements last fall after another teenage girl, Tina Fontaine, was killed after running away from the hotel where she was placed.

The province, which has about 10,000 mostly aboriginal foster children, is now “accelerating” efforts to expand spaces in group homes and shelters and to recruit more foster parents, especially those willing to take on runaways and children with special needs, said Rachel Morgan, a government spokeswoman.

Morgan said the province had stopped a few months ago using contract workers to supervise children placed in hotels in favour of provincial staff. But “obviously that wasn’t enough,” she said, referring to this week’s assault.

In the past year, the province has placed about 350 children in hotels. As of Wednesday, there were still nine in hotels.

Hotel placements are not isolated to Manitoba. Last fall, Irwin Elman, Ontario’s child advocate, wanted to know whether hotel placements were happening in his province.

He said he was surprised to learn the province’s ministry of children and youth services wasn’t keeping track. When he queried all 48 children’s aid societies, about half responded. Some confirmed it happens, but only rarely and typically involves children 16 or older. Only one society told him that it forbids the practice, he said.

Alberta was the only province reached Thursday that said it did not place children in hotels. “For a number of years, the policy of this government is that we don’t put children in care into hotel or motel rooms,” spokeswoman Trish Filevich said.