Two-thirds of kids in care don’t finish high school: Report

WINNIPEG — Children in care in Manitoba are far less likely to have successful educational outcomes than those who are not, a University of Manitoba study has found.

The report, released Tuesday by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, showed 89% of students who were never in the care of Child and Family Services graduated high school, compared to 33% of those who spent any time in care.

“I won’t say that we were surprised that the kids in care were doing more poorly than the kids not in care,” Marni Brownell, the study’s lead author, said.

“We were surprised at some of the differences, how big they were, like only a third of the kids in care graduating high school.”

Brownell said the statistics surrounding Indigenous children were the most shocking with 22% of all First Nations children in Manitoba ending up in care at some point in their lives. That’s in stark contrast to the 1.5% of non-Indigenous kids.

“These kids (in care) are our future and ... we know these kids aren’t doing well. We know, in a sense, we’re failing these kids,” she said. “We’re not improving their lives.”

The province has called an afternoon press conference with Education Minister James Allum, where he will discuss a new task force designed to address “educational outcomes for children in care.”