Chronic shortage of foster home spaces for at-risk youth sends kids to hotels

Highland Shores Children’s Aid and the Canadian Union of Public Employees continue to stand together as they call on the province to help with a shortage of spaces in foster homes and treatment facilities for youth needing help.

The organization and the union recently released a joint statement highlighting the severity of the situation, calling it a crisis.

With a province-wide shortage in the number of spaces at licensed foster homes and treatment facilities, HSCA Executive Director Jess Uddenberg says they have been forced to place a youth in hotels and Airbnbs since November.

“We tried for one of our youths to place them. We reached out to 40 placements that either didn’t have space or turned the profile down of the youth based on risk. And then to explain that you can have a licensed, trained and outfitted facility turn down, taking on the youth and then by default, two of my staff are going out to a hotel to supervise the youth. How does that equal safety and best interests of the child?”

Staff have worked around the clock to support the youth by covering shifts, making meals and more.

This is not unique to the Quinte region as Uddenberg says it’s happening elsewhere around the province, putting already vulnerable youth at further risk and costing thousands of dollars that could be better spent elsewhere.

Ceri Jagt, a frontline service worker and president of CUPE Local 2197 says this situation is even more serious in other areas noting Windsor CAS has as many as eight youths currently in hotels.

She says they’re there to help families but that is getting more difficult to do.

“We’re at the point where we need people to understand this is a huge crisis. We need to do, I think, many things to address it. I don’t think it’s a one answer. But you know we need more foster homes. We need more funding for prevention. We need more tools in the community to help families before these kids end up at our door.”

Uddenberg agrees more secure treatment beds are needed across the province but the system itself needs overhauling.

Better prevention methods will reduce the need for such strong interventions.

“The long-term solution really is trying to build better systems and build better family units by getting them the support they need when they need it. But when you have six- to 12-month wait lists in some areas, you have families in crisis, and then that develops into the need for intervention and then, here we are.”

Uddenberg calls it an issue both management and the union stand together on.

“This is such a significant chronic issue right now, that this is one that easily brings us all together. And that’s why you see us advocating together, because it’s important and crosses all lines within our agency.”

He says they’ve received a lot of support from the general public since issuing the statement noting that many people are unaware of how dire the situation is.

Highland Shores currently serves 189 youths.

There are 53 foster homes.