BC government walks back support for disadvantaged youth | Daily Hive

BC government walks back support for disadvantaged youth: ombudsperson

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The BC Office of the Ombudsperson released a report this week saying the province misinformed a young woman regarding financial support worth tens of thousands of dollars and is now refusing to compensate her for its mistake.

According to the report, two summers ago, Alexandra, who was 17 at the time, was provided incorrect information by the Ministry of Children and Family Development regarding post-secondary support.

This information caused her to believe she would be eligible to receive financial assistance, “when in fact she was not,” the ombudsperson said.

“The mistake had significant financial impacts on Alexandra,” the ombudsperson added. “However, the ministry is rejecting the Ombudsperson’s recommendation to compensate her for the value of the benefits she was led to believe she would receive.”

In doing so, Ombudsperson Jay Chalke said the ministry is not taking responsibility, adding he is troubled that the ministry is not correcting its mistake, which “financially disadvantaged a young person.”

“To make matters worse, the ministry won’t even look to see if others may have been similarly impacted,” Chalke said.

New report: Government refuses to compensate for its own errors that left youth unable to access educational supports and rejects Ombudsperson recommendation to look for other youth impacted https://t.co/dVC7sMBPJq pic.twitter.com/67wTA9B6Uo

— B.C. Office of the Ombudsperson (@BCOmbudsperson) September 6, 2023

According to the report, Alexandra was denied post-secondary education funding because she was in her aunt’s custody when she turned 19.

The ombudsperson explained Alexandra was removed from her unsafe family home five times by the ministry. When Alexandra’s custody was transferred to her aunt, the ministry informed her that she would be eligible for government-funded support.

“Based on that understanding, Alexandra consented to the court order,” the release reads.

In response to this case, the ombudsperson has made five recommendations to the government, “including that Alexandra be compensated for the full value of the supports she was led to believe she would receive which include tuition, cost of living, and health care expenses.”

“As well as rejecting this recommendation, the ministry is also refusing the Ombudsperson’s recommendation to conduct an audit to determine if other youth were impacted,” a release from the ombudsperson reads.

The province rejected three recommendations but agreed to suggestions regarding developing strategies to ensure staff are aware of the benefits and limitations and its obligations for providing youth with legal advice.

However, in a statement from BC’s minister of children and family development, Mitzi Dean, the ministry will be reviewing the ombudsperson’s report “to fully understand what went wrong when Alexandra sought advice from the ministry in 2015, and how we can avoid this in the future.”

“We have made important changes since that time to specifically ensure proper support and communication to help youth transition from care. It’s clear that social workers need to provide accurate and complete information to youth and families, and we will continue to improve communication and information-sharing. We want to ensure that all youth in care receive the support that will help make them successful in life,” she said.

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Additionally, in a statement shared with Daily Hive, the ministry added all former youth in care, including Alexandra, have access to free tuition at BC’s post-secondaries.

“In addition, for young people from care, like Alexandra (the subject of this report), our government is expanding support for housing, financial, medical and guidance for all former kids in care until the age of 27. The changes we are making will allow youth in all care statuses to have access to equal support after the age of 19,” the email statement added.