A new bill aimed at cutting red tape will relax the requirement that Alberta’s Office of the Child and Youth Advocate investigate deaths of all youth who received government intervention services.
On Feb. 26, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally tabled Bill 38, the Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, in the Alberta legislature. If passed, the bill will alter several pieces of legislation, including removing what the province calls “unnecessary requirements” from the Child and Youth Advocate Act.
Currently, the deaths of all children and youth who die in government care or received intervention services within the two years before their death are investigated. For children under the age of 18, this will not change, but for youth ages 18 and 19, investigations will only be performed at the discretion of the Child and Youth Advocate Terri Pelton, Nally said during a press conference Wednesday.
“If an investigation is required, then obviously there would still be one. But (Pelton) now has the lever to say we're not going to investigate for whatever reason,” Nally said.
Nally could not say whether Pelton asked for these changes, and stated he had not asked the minister of Children and Family Services (CFS) who was consulted on the proposed amendments.
Between April 2024 and January, 35 children and youth died while receiving intervention services through CFS. Thirteen of these youth were 18 or older. Since 2021, 40 per cent of children and youth who died while receiving intervention services were in this age group.
Bradley Lafortune, executive director of Public Interest Alberta, said removing the requirement to investigate the deaths of so many young Albertans is “appalling.”
“Dead children and youth are not red tape,” Lafortune said.
“I believe that the purpose of reporting by the child and youth advocate is to provide information into the details of youth who died in care, or who died recently after having been in care, so that the system that Alberta supports and administers can be improved so fewer people die.”
Lafortune commended the work the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate has done to provide answers to Albertans about children harmed while in care and said the office should be resourced accordingly to handle current caseloads rather than cutting back the duties it performs.
“The idea that these youth have aged out of care, and so therefore, it's no longer a responsibility for us to investigate these deaths is appalling. Because we know that there are long term impacts for young children and youth receiving care that can lead to very challenging circumstances – that tragically can lead to death,” he said.
Investigating deaths of youth in care “needs to remain a requirement,” he said.
CFS Minister Searle Turton’s office did not respond to questions about how the ministry will track outcomes of intervention services if deaths are not investigated.
