New child advocate calls for action following deaths of 15 youths

The deaths of 15 youths over a six-month span are “extremely troublesome,” Alberta's Child and Youth Advocate says in a new report.

The report, published Wednesday by Terri Pelton, highlights the need for “urgent action” to address service-delivery gaps following the deaths of 15 young people between the ages of six and 19. Twelve were Indigenous and nine died related to drug toxicity, with one who began using substances at the age of seven.

Twelve youth were receiving child intervention services at the time of their deaths, and three within the previous two years.

According to the report, many of the children and youth had complex needs that required cross-system support, and in some circumstances, the services didn't meet their needs or were not available.

“Many young people with complex needs are not receiving adequate supports and that must be rectified,” said Pelton in a news release. “We recognize some promising new initiatives are being developed; however, in the meantime, we need immediate action to address these service gaps and create better outcomes for these children and youth.”

RODNEY

One of the 15 children whose deaths are described in the report is six-year-old Rodney (all names are pseudonyms for privacy reasons). He is described as a “little gentleman” who was loving and kind. He loved riding horses and wanted to be a cowboy and firefighter when he grew up. Growing up, he witnessed escalating family violence, substance use by his parents, and mental health concerns.

The advocate found, at times, he did not have his basic needs met and his family had a number of brief involvements with child intervention services. As a result, Rodney was often staying with relatives.

During a family visit to their First Nation community, Rodney died in a house fire.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Pelton is recommending the ministries of health, education, children's services, community and social services and justice and solicitor general “develop and publicly report on a co-ordinated action plan to address service gaps for young people with complex needs while longer-term initiatives are under development.”

The plan should also include targets and milestones that meet the immediate needs of the youth.

The Child and Youth Advocate also previously recommended the province develop and implement a youth-specific opioid and substance-use strategy. To date, no progress on the recommendation has been made, Pelton said.

In a statement, Children's Services spokesman Dan Laville said the department will work with its partners to consider the advocate's latest recommendation, while longer-term initiatives remain under development.

Laville added several initiatives are underway to improve access for youth and young adults to mental health and addiction services, including new funding and a partnership between Children's Services, Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services to expand the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program.

He added opioid and substance use training is mandatory for child intervention practitioners.

“With an increase of opioid and substance use, we recognized a need to provide training to staff that focuses on appropriate responses and the tools they need,” Laville said. “We will not stop in our work to make a meaningful difference. We are committed to continuously improving our system to support the safety and well-being of children receiving child intervention services.”

However, Opposition NDP children's services critic Rakhi Pancholi said there is no reason the UCP government should not have addressed the call for an opioid and substance-use strategy by now.