2 CFS kids moved 105 times in one year, report finds

A special report by the Office of Manitoba'sChildren's Advocate (OCA) found two children in the care of Child and Family services moved 105 times each in one year.

The OCA used information from the province's own department of family services on placement changes between April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015.

It showed 296 children in care were moved more than seven times each, during that period.

Of that number, 78 children were moved more than 15 times a year.

The report, called, Don't Call Me Resilient: What Loss & Grief Look Like for Children and Youth in Care, looks at the effect multiple moves have on foster children.

"These negative outcomes include behavioural problems, poor academic performance, difficulty forming attachments, and greater risk factors including substance use, suicide attempts, and psychiatric hospitalisation," the report says.

The children's advocate interviewed 12 youths, ages 14 and up, about their experiences with loss and grief while in CFS.

'I just shut down'

The former and current CFS wards talked about what they felt when they first went into care and what they lost: friends, family, siblings, trust, culture, childhood and happiness.

"My childhood memories and pictures have all been thrown out, and I'll never know exactly what they contained," one youth in care the report quotes.

The Children's Advocate writes: "Many of the youth remembered feeling angry, powerless, nervous, isolated, fearful, and panicked whenthey were first apprehended."

"It's hard to make friends because I know down the road I will have to leave or they will," another youth is quoted as saying.

"I just shut down."

"Over time, "[actions] change, even if the feelings are the same. For example, at eight ifI wasangry, I'd mess up my room. At 16, I'd punch a hole in the wall," said another.

The report makes the point that children in care do not transition into new foster placements easily. While loss and grief are something all people experience, the Children's Advocate said children in care experience "loss after loss with little opportunity to understand and manage the feelings of griefthat follow."

The Children's Advocate recommends that the Standing Committee on Child and Family Services hear from Voices: Manitoba's Youth in Care Network, about how to improve the system and cut down on multiple placements.

It also recommends the department of family services grantfunding to Voices to create an educational module to teach people working in Child and Family Services.

The Children's Advocate, Darlene MacDonald could not be reached for comment. Incidentally, her office says sheis at the CFS Western 2016 Annual Conference Understanding and Skills for Working With Grief, Loss and Trauma in Children.

'Not surprising'

Manitoba's advocate for First Nations families wasn't surprised when she read the report.

"When [children] are trapped in these systems and they are moved from place to place, they are missing pieces," saidCoraMorgan.

She said almost half a billion dollars is spent taking kids out of their families while only about $20 million goes into keeping families together. That has to change.

"The damage is done the moment that child is taken and that grieving process happens from the get-go. They're grieving [the loss of] family, friends, pets, all of those pieces, but they are also losing the connection to their identity."

The impact ofmultiple moveson a child can be severe and is often lasting, she said.

"We can prevent that right from the onset, providing these resources and supports and children won't be removed from the home and you won't have the issue of children being in 105 placements in a year," she said.

Morgan said when children who have been in care are asked about their experiences, it's easy to see how it changes their lives, and the lives of those around them.

"They felt like they didn't have a voice. They didn't have a choice. That no one was listening to them. That they kind of lost control of their life and they didn't care what happened to them."