Yukon Health and Social Services Council
32 Dolly Varden Drive
Whitehorse
Y1A 6A1

Dear Mr. Buchan:

I am writing to you to remind you and the other Council members of the contents of the submission I made to the Council on September 8, 2000. I attended that meeting in the company of Sandra Gibbs who for the past nine years has administered a group home for children in the permanent care of the government. Since November 1998, I have worked as a consulting psychologist to the group home that Ms Gibbs operates.

Since July of 1999, Ms Gibbs and I had been sharing our concerns about children in care with the Director and Supervisors of Family and Children’s Services in the Department of Health and Social Services. Little was done to address the issues we raised. As our concerns were mounting we decided to speak with the Council. The title of my presentation to you was ‘Changes in youth in care and the implications for the government’.

I spoke about the nature of youth in care and the major social-emotional difficulties and behaviour problems they are presenting. This includes a number of quite young youth that are being diagnosed with major psychiatric problems. They have poor interpersonal skills that are revealed in difficulties with relationships with peers and adults. They are resistant to authority and this often brings them in conflict with the law. I noted the increase in the number of girls with very difficult emotional and behavioural problems and linked this to the very high incidence of sexual abuse that has been perpetrated on the girls, often at a very young age.

I spoke about the patterns I had noticed in the history of these youth. Most had come into care at a very young age, often during the first year of life. I noted the lack of stability in placements for these children: the yo-yoing between the birth or extended family and care by the government. I noted the exposure to family violence, to alcohol abuse in the family of origin, to the high incidence of sexual abuse. I noted the number of changes in placements once the children were in care. I noted that children had been moved again, and again, and again — 10, 20, 30 or 40 times. I pointed out the significance of stability in the primary caregiver for children and the relationship to healthy emotional development.

I talked about the problems children face after exposure to such chaotic management of the basic need to stay in one place long enough to begin the process of attachment to a caregiver. I noted that children who had experienced so many moves and so many caregivers would be expected to show emotional and behavioural problems. I noted the particular pattern of cognitive abilities associated with this profile, the academic difficulties of the children and their disengagement from school. I spoke about the difficulty special education teachers have providing appropriate Individual Educational Plans for such damaged youth when they have such high case loads. I noted that the youth often end up in trouble with the law. I spoke about the need to create a cadre of youth care workers with the level of skill needed to manage youth with increasing complex mental health problems.

Last but not least, I pointed out to the Council the long-term impact of the current trend and the financial implication for government. I spoke about the need to have services that extend across the lifespan. What happens to these youth once they leave care at eighteen? Many will need Social Assistance (which they are not eligible for until they are nineteen), Mental Health Services and Employment-related services, not just on an interim basis but long-term. I spoke about the need for an integrated approach by the three government departments most involved with these youth: Family and Children’s Services, Education and Justice. I underscored the need for concerted action by government.

I understand the Council subsequently asked Family and Children’s Services to address some of the issues we had raised and will be preparing a report for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Ms Gibbs, an independent business woman, was told that she had created enough trouble for the department and was directed by Family and Children’s Services not to speak with the Council again without a departmental representative with her. The Council of Yukon First Nations had invited us to make a presentation to them on October 5, 2000 but this was cancelled by Family and Children’s Services.

On October 20 Ms Gibbs received a letter from the Director, Family and Children’s Services indicating that her contract to run the group home was terminated (without cause) with 60 days notice. We see a direct link between our attempts to inform significant partners of the crisis in childcare in the Yukon and this action. This was confirmed on October 25 when the Minister of Health and Social Services, when asked by an employee why she had lost her job at the group home was told, "What happened over there was the last straw".

Mr. Buchan and members of the Yukon Health and Social Services Council, what protection is there for concerned citizens who appear before the Council to discuss issues of public concern? Why is a dialogue about the issues of youth in care so threatening to Family and Children’s Services? What do they have to hide? Where is the accountability in government if people become fearful of their livelihood when they address an advisory council set up by the government, presumably to get public input? To what extent is the Council independent and able to operate without government interference? I thought we lived in a democracy where freedom of speech was encouraged and cherished. I’m beginning to think I was naïve.

Sincerely,

Janet B. Webster, Ed.D.