Hundreds of serious injuries reported involving kids in care 'tip of the iceberg': Manitoba youth advocate
Report released Thursday details 140 serious injuries investigated by Manitoba's child advocate
WARNING: This article contains discussion of sexual abuse and self-harm.
Hundreds of children in the care of Manitoba government services were seriously injured over an 18-month period — including dozens of instances of sexual assault — according to a newly released report by the province's advocate for children and youth.
Children's advocate Sherry Gott says those numbers are likely "only the tip of the iceberg," because of underreporting in the system.
"Serious injuries impacting young people are regrettably not a new phenomenon," Gott said at a Thursday press conference announcing the findings of her office's serious injury reviews and investigation program.
"However, the legislative responsibility to aggregate and disseminate findings related to these horrific incidents is."
The 78-page report is the first time the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth has publicly released comprehensive information on the number and cause of serious injuries related to children in care.
Provincial legislation came into effect in 2023 that requires serious injuries to any youth receiving reviewable services to be reported to the advocate. That would include injuries to youth in the care of Child and Family Services and youth receiving mental health, addiction or justice services.
Creating a serious injury reviews and investigations program for the advocate was one of the recommendations made in the inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair, a five-year-old girl who had spent time in foster care before she was abused and killed by her mother and stepfather in 2005.
The program gives the advocate the ability to identify issues and gaps in the system, Gott said Thursday.
"Serious injury reviews are a new and unique opportunity in Manitoba to ensure children's rights are protected," she said.
Numbers 'an incomplete representation'
The advocate was notified of 367 serious injuries during the first 18 months of the program's inception, according to the report released Thursday. More than half of those notifications — 218 — came from Child and Family Services authorities.
A serious injury is defined as anything that is life-threatening, requires admission to the hospital and is expected to cause serious long-term impairment, or is the result of a sexual assault.
But confusion over what constitutes a serious injury, a lack of motivation to report and insufficient staff training are some of the barriers that make the advocate believe serious injuries are going unreported, said the report.
"These numbers should be viewed as an incomplete representation of serious injuries sustained by young people," the report said.
Some organizations did not submit a single referral during the reporting period, it noted.
Over 220 of the reported injuries met the criteria to be reviewed by the advocate, and 140 of those assessments were completed in time for the report.
Of those, close to half — 58 — were the result of a sexual assault.
Another 25 injuries were from a weapon (21 of which were stabbings), 19 were suicide attempts and 14 involved assaults.
There were also nine accidental injuries, eight that were the result of an overdose, four that involved self-harm and three that were from severe neglect.
In total, 94 per cent of the injuries were connected with a youth in CFS care, and 91 per cent involved a youth of Indigenous ancestry.
The majority of sexual assault victims were cisgender females, one-third of whom had a neurodevelopment disability or a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the report said.
More than 20 of the sexual assaults involved young people between the ages of 11 and 17 who were sexually exploited, sometimes by multiple different people.
The report said that figure only scratches the surface of the "real degree of sexual exploitation occurring across Manitoba."
Two of the youth were sexually assaulted by a person they were placed with by CFS, "serving as a horrific indication that some youth are being harmed by those entrusted by the province to care for them," the report stated.
Gott said the province's response to sexual assault is "outdated," and prevention — through legislation or programming — must be a priority.
Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said the findings in the report are important, and the province is currently working to revamp Tracia's Trust, the province's sexual exploitation strategy.
"We are so committed to ensuring that we are addressing many of the issues in this report," she said Thursday afternoon.
"I really do believe we are going to be able to make a dent in those numbers."
The advocate's office found there were not enough resources to protect youth from sexual exploitation, and there was not enough emphasis on preventing them from being exploited in the first place.
Finding missing youth who are experiencing exploitation also needs to be prioritized, the report said.
Systemic issues
The 19 suicide attempts revealed problems with the province's current mental health system, the report said, noting lengthy wait lists for treatment, and a lack of mental health and addictions services in rural and remote communities.
The report identified other systemic issues for government organizations to address, including:
- The need for specialized placements to support youth with complex needs.
- A lack of involuntary treatment options for young people at serious risk of harm.
- A shortage of services for youth who are being sexually exploited.
- Overall resource scarcity for youth experiencing both mental health and harmful substance-use challenges.
The hope is that the report will encourage more government bodies to report serious injuries so gaps can be identified and more can be done to prevent the injuries, its conclusion states.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to look for help:
- Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 988.
- Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868. Text 686868. Live chat counselling on the website.
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.
- This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you're worried about.
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