Advocate’s report calls for urgent reform of child-welfare system

Cali Derksen was 14 when she threw a few things into a backpack and left home, fleeing weapons and threats of violence for what she believed would be a safer place.

Now 16, she said Child and Family Services did “good” by removing her from the home.

“But after they did that, I didn’t think much really came out of them,” she said Thursday at the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth office at 320 Donald St. “I had to call Kids Help line. I had to find solutions for myself in order to feel safe… because CFS wasn’t supporting me.”

Derksen’s experience is one of 17 shared in a new report calling for urgent reform of Manitoba’s child-welfare system. Youth in care say they are often left unsupported, unprepared and unheard.

The Truth of the Youth report, released Thursday by MACY, was researched and written by members of its Youth Ambassador Advisory Squad. It highlights systemic failures that have led to instability and harm, and urges decision-makers to act.

Marie Christian, former manager of VOICES: Manitoba’s Youth in Care, proposed the peer-to-peer interview process while completing a practicum with the advocate.

“This YAAS squad, it’s made of of young people who represent this generation of youth,” she said. “They are deeply engaged, resilient and eager to shape their future. But they are also burdened with unprecedented challenges.”

YAAS has participants from across the province who use their lived experience to push for change in systems affecting young people.

Derksen said she stayed with aunts before moving being moved elsewhere, encountering substance use and mental and psychological abuse along the way.

She said Kids Help Phone directed her to MACY for advocacy support.

“In every single environment (I went), I wasn’t stable,” she said, adding many caregivers struggled with their own mental health. “I just feel like CFS never really tried to provide stability for me as a kid.”

“This YAAS squad, it’s made of of young people who represent this generation of youth… They are deeply engaged, resilient and eager to shape their future. But they are also burdened with unprecedented challenges.”

The 78-page report argues children with lived experience must be heard and trusted as leaders.

“Our experiences are serious and valid, and they should be treated as such,” the report said. “We have feelings, needs, interests and so much to say. But we need adults to hold space for us, to share information with us, to listen to us, to take our words seriously and to be willing to learn from us.”

Based on interviews and listening sessions, the report identifies key themes: treatment and care, culturally safe services, education and life skills, transitioning out of care, the meaning of home and listening to youth.

Across all areas, youth described a system that often failed to protect, support, nurture, prepare or listen to them.

“This report is not simply a record of what has gone wrong,” it said. “It is a call to action.”

The most recent annual report from the provincial Department of Families showed 9,172 youth in care across various CFS agencies for the 2024–25 reporting period, up from 8,919 the year prior, an increase of nearly three per cent and the first notable rise in nearly a decade.

It also found a disproportionate number of Indigenous youth — 91 per cent as of last March, which is up from 87 per cent in 2016–17, when 10,295 children were in care, the highest number recorded.

Lynzie Hunter-Bear, 17, has been in the system since infancy. She said a major issue is that reports of abuse are not taken seriously.

“Sometimes, they brush it off,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah yeah.’ And then they talk to the adults, and then the adults will say, ‘Oh yeah, they’re dumb. They’re not that smart. They’re saying things that didn’t happen.’

“In reality, I’ve lived it.”

Hunter-Bear said the report is meant to ensure youth voices are heard — not dismissed by adults, government or CFS.

Derksen said she was rarely heard during her time in the system.

She said she feels like a piece on a game board, her life being constantly shuffled around.

“They’re like, ‘Oh, you’re too young. You don’t understand,’” she said, adding that people pretend to listen but never actually do.

She described being ignored when asking for money to buy clothes to replace torn items or worn-out shoes because she’d already used up her allocation; no one was willing to put in additional effort to help.

“There’s just so many times where I find I have to be the one doing the social worker’s job, and I’m just a kid,” she said. “I’m 16, and I have to make those phone calls. I have to try and advocate. I have to come up with 50 different solutions.”

Manitoba has consistently had among the highest number of youth in care and the highest rate of child apprehensions in the country.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has identified the child-welfare system as a contemporary extension of the residential school system.

While some changes have been made since its 2015 report, the latest findings from the child advocate suggest there is still a long way to go.

“Real change begins with listening,” the report said. “Children and youth have the right to express their views on matters that affect their lives, and adults have a responsibility to listen and take those views seriously. When young people are listened to, decisions, policies and outcomes improve.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca