Number of Manitoba kids in CFS care down for first time in 15 years By: Larry Kusch Posted: 12:12 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2018 Last Modified: 5:21 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 25, 2018 Updates

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The number of children in care of Manitoba Child and Family Services has decreased for the first time in 15 years, the province says.

As of March 31, there were 10,328 children in care, down 386 from the previous year, Families Minister Heather Stefanson announced Tuesday.

"While these numbers capture a snapshot of one point in time, they provide us with (an) encouraging sign that Manitoba is heading in the right direction," Stefanson said.

She credited the improved figures to improvements in preventative measures and a boost in family reunifications.

"In the area of family reunifications, we’ve increased that by more than eight per cent in the last year. And we’ve also been able — through preventative initiatives — to reduce the number of apprehensions, which has decreased by more than nine per cent," she said.

An additional 448 children were reported to be in non-paid care, either reunited in their own home (with a parent, guardian or lifelong family member) or placed in supervised adoption without financial support.

The total of 10,776 open CFS files as of March 31 represented a reduction of 576 from last year, or 5.1 per cent, the province said.

Daphne Penrose, Manitoba advocate for children and youth, called the figures "encouraging," but said she was awaiting receipt of the families department annual report before commenting further.

"It’s difficult to know exactly what these numbers mean… until you actually see the full report," she said.

While the the government issued a news release Tuesday touting numbers contained in the department’s annual report, it said the report itself won’t come out until the end of the week. A spokeswoman cited production issues for the delay.

NDP MLA Bernadette Smith (Point Douglas) said she was concerned the government did not release the full report Tuesday so the figures could be put into proper context.

"They (the government) might have changed the way that they’re counting kids in care," Smith said.

The government denied that, saying the numbers of children in the care were calculated in the same manner in 2017 and 2018.

Of the 10,328 children in care as of March 31, 87 per cent were Indigenous. The province supported 77 per cent of the children in care, while the federal government funded 23 per cent.

The province said the March snapshot represented the first decrease in the number of children in care since 2003, when Manitoba’s child-welfare system was devolved into four authorities to oversee agencies mandated to deliver services.

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Sixty-two per cent of children in care were permanent wards, five per cent were under a temporary voluntary placement agreement, while 33 per cent were in care under a temporary legal status where reunification with families was the primary goal.

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The province also released breakdowns for children in care by agency and supervising authority Tuesday. It showed modest reductions in numbers throughout the province.

Exceptions included significant increases in children in care reported by two northern CFS agencies.

Island Lake First Nations Family Services recorded a boost of 79 children in care (to 674 this year), while Nikan Awasisak Agency (headquartered in Cross Lake) said its numbers jumped by 101 (to 289).

Meanwhile, Winnipeg CFS reported its numbers dropped to 799 from 929 the previous year.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca