When it comes to aging out in N.L., the system is ‘leaving a lot of young people behind’

For a young woman in St. John’s, the anticipation of her 21st birthday was anything but exciting.

“It’s quite terrifying,” she said in a recent interview.

“It’s really scary not knowing what you’re going to do … what the future holds, I guess. Nothing is guaranteed.”

The young woman spoke with CBC News on the condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of her experience as a youth in care.

Aside from a pre-arranged meeting with income support two months before her birthday, she said there was no plan to prepare her for aging out of care — when her voluntary youth services agreement with the province was set to expire.

“I didn’t feel prepared whatsoever. I was having a really hard time, even mentally it was taking a toll on me. I wasn’t ready for it,” she said.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, youth who are in need of protective care between the ages of 16 and 17 can sign on with the province for an individualized youth services plan. 

In this province, youth lose access to their financial and social support on their 21st birthday. It’s one of the youngest age limits in the country. 

However, the province says there are exceptions.

“I think it’s leaving a lot of young people behind,” said Shelby Arnold, educational program lead with Thrive, a non-profit organization in St. John’s.

Heavy workloads on social workers limit one-on-one time with youth and the adjustment from group care — where daily choices can be dictated — to sudden autonomy can be jarring, Arnold said. 

“Often [social workers are] seeing people once a month,” Arnold said.

“Social workers don’t have the capacity, even though they would be in the right position to do that work.”

Organizations like Thrive try to fill that gap, Arnold said, but non-profits are not a catch-all. 

Madison Pretty examined the province’s youth services program while completing her master’s degree in public policy at Simon Fraser University.

Pretty spoke with youth who left the system, social workers and non-profit organizations that work with young people first hand. 

“What we found was that what’s in the policy manual, what’s in the legislation, is not what’s happening in practice,” Pretty said in a recent interview.

“The young people that I spoke to really described not feeling like there was any really kind of transition.”

Financial and social supports vary for youth who are in the child protection system depending on the province. In Nova Scotia, for example, the government recently raised the age limit to 26. However, critics argue even that doesn’t go far enough.

“Newfoundland and Labrador is lagging quite behind,” Pretty said. “We’re tied with one other province for having the youngest cutoff age.”

Pretty recommends the province extend the age mandate to give youth time to build skills without dreading a “looming birthday care cliff.”

She added it’s also one of the only provinces without mandatory transition planning, to prepare youth for independent adulthood. 

Daniel Hepditch, an education outreach worker at Thrive, said things need to improve. 

“If not raise the age, adjust the transition process and the phasing,” Hepditch said.

“I think that our province needs to do something to make this better for our young people.”

However, Hepditch and Arnold caution about the use of mandatory transition planning, empathizing with the importance of social workers being prepared to adapt to changes and approaching youth at their own pace.

Abrupt independence: Newfoundland and Labrador has one of the lowest cutoff ages in Canada for youth leaving system

The consequences of poor planning and preparation can be stark, according to a report released by a Senate committee in December. 

The report offered a stinging assessment of the country’s child protection systems and the lack of support for youth transitioning into adulthood. 

Independent Senator Mary Coyle told CBC News last winter that far too often the system acts as a “child welfare to prison pipeline.”

“When young people age out of care, where do they go? How do they feed themselves? How do they house themselves? Who do they associate with?” Coyle said. 

“If there isn’t a wrap-around healthy support system for that person, they’re going to seek out a system somewhere to get by.”

At Thrive, Arnold and Hepditch work with youth to improve their education. They see the success stories, in spite of the challenges handed to young people.

“We see the capacity and we see all the wonderful gifts and strengths that people and care have,” Arnold said.

“And so, they’re not a problem to fix. They’re people who are trying to step into the next phase of their life and we all can do a little bit better to make sure that they have what they need.”

Minister of Social Supports and Well-being Chris Tibbs was not made available for an interview.

EDITOR’S NOTE: They are among society’s most vulnerable: children who experience traumatic instability and end up in government care. In this series called “Left Behind,” the CBC Atlantic investigative team explores the challenges and outcomes through the eyes of people who lived through this and those trying to help them.