“It’s a game-changer,” said Amanda Owusu, 21, a former youth in care and a member of the residential services youth panel that advised the government on the blueprint. A long-awaited blueprint to reform Ontario’s troubled group home and foster-care system vows to boost quality, increase oversight and ensure children and youth have a voice in helping to plan their care. However he said the government’s willingness to tackle the “especially dire circumstances” of Black and Indigenous youth in residential care offers some hope. Children and youth are placed in residential care due to parental abuse or neglect, conflict with the law or mental health needs. There are about 15,170 beds in licensed foster or group homes in Ontario.

Source: thestar July 19, 2017 22:52 UTC