Displaying 1 - 10 of 16
Highlights
- School-based population survey in British Columbia, Canada (unweighted n = 38,015)
- Youth in care reported worse general and mental health than youth not in care.
- Youth in care missed needed medical care more frequently than youth not in care.
- Female and non-binary youth in care had worse health and more missed care than males.
- Negative health care experiences and transportation were barriers for youth in care.
Background
The Youth Research Academy (YRA) is a group of young people aged 16 to 24 with experience of the government care system. They are trained to carry out research projects that can help benefit youth in and from care throughout BC. This cohort has been meeting online twice a week since June 2021, and includes two peer mentors who took part in previous YRA cohorts. For this report, the group planned what analyses to carry out on the topic of mental health among youth with care experience. The analyses were based on questions from the 2018 BC Adolescent Health Survey (BC AHS…
This study investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with complete mental health (CMH) among a nationally representative sample of Canadians who had contact with child welfare services before age 16. CMH was defined as (1) the absence of suicidality, mental illness, and substance abuse or dependence in the preceding year; (2) happiness or life satisfaction almost every day in the preceding month, and; (3) social and psychological well-being almost every day in the preceding month.
Data came from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey – Mental Health. A subsample of 732…
Removal from family of origin to state care can be a highly challenging childhood experience and is itself linked to an array of unfavourable outcomes in adult life. This systematic review aimed to synthetise evidence on the risk of adult mortality in people with a history of state care in early life, and assess the association according to different contexts.
The present synthesis of existing evidence found that the excess risk of adult mortality in this group was not attributable to other measures of adversity captured in included studies, suggesting that, in the countries…
The purpose of this study was to examine, in a sample of residential care children in Quebec, Canada, the moderating role of cognitive flexibility in the association between maltreatment and emotion regulation competencies. The sample included 69 children aged 8 to 12 and their group home educator as their primary caretaker. Educators completed questionnaires evaluating child emotion regulation competencies and cognitive flexibility. Child history of maltreatment and sociodemographic data were collected on the basis of the children’s child protective services files. Moderation analyses showed…
Abstract
The health and wellness of Indigenous peoples continue to be impacted by the harmful colonization practices enforced by the Government of Canada. While the long-term health impacts of the Indian Residential School (IRS) system are documented, empirical evidence elucidating the relationship between the IRSs and the risk of offspring experiencing other collective childhood traumas, such as the Sixties Scoop (1950-1990) and the inequities within the child welfare system (CWS), is needed. Through an online study, we explored the links between familial (parents/grandparents) IRS…
Abstract
Seventy-eight postinstitutionalized (PI) children adopted at ages 17–36 months were assessed 2, 8, 16, and 24 months postadoption on measures of cortisol and parenting quality, and compared to same-aged children adopted from foster care (FC, n = 45) and nonadopted children (NA, n = 45). In kindergarten (Mage = 6.0 years), teachers, parents, and trained observers completed measures of peer relationships and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. PI children had more peer problems…
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) has published its findings from an extensive examination of Canada’s policy of placing aboriginal children in residential schools, removing the children from their families and communities. In its examination, the TRC has determined the actions of the Canadian government to constitute cultural genocide. “Canada separated children from their parents, sending them to residential schools," says the report. “This was done not to educate them, but primarily to break their link to their culture and identity.” In this executive summary, the TRC…
Abstract
This paper calls for creative pathways of engagement that delineate places of belonging for and with Indigenous youth in care. It draws on two community-based research studies conducted in British Columbia, with urban and off-reserve Indigenous youth to contextualize and extend understanding of permanency for Indigenous youth in care. Our discussion explores permanency in relation to both Western understandings of government care, guardianship, and adoptions, and Indigenous customary caregiving and cultural planning for cultural permanency, such as naming and coming home…
This article is part of a special edition of the journal Psychosocial Intervention (Volume 22 No.03 December 2013) focused on the state of child protection in a wide variety of countries with special attention to out-of-home care placements, principally family foster care and residential care, tough several aspects related to adoption were included as well.
The paper begins by suggesting that child welfare systems in North America and selected European and Scandinavian countries have converged…