Skip to main content

Children in the care of the provincial government's child and family services need to be going to school


Children in the care of child and family services are too often forgottern. I have recently learned of children in the care of CFS which are not able to go to school because they do not have the technology or the support to go to school on-line. Every one of the more than 10,000 children in care who of school age should be able to attend school - on-line with the right support. We can not risk the consequences of them not being helped now. I asked the provincial government what they are doing about this in Question Period on May 13. 

Children in CFS Care - Access to Online Education

Hon. Jon Gerrard  (River Heights): Madam Speaker, it is shocking that there are children in the care of the government's Child and Family Services who are not going to school online during this pandemic.

      Schools and CFS agencies are not tracking down all children who've moved. Not all organizations operating group homes are ensuring all children in their care are going to school. The same disaster of kids not going to school happened under the NDP. Then, only 33 per cent of children in care graduated from high school.

      The Premier is a former teacher. He says he cares about children and schooling.
      Will he act today to ensure every one of the 10,000 children in CFS care who's of school age has the technology and the support and is going to school online? 

Hon. Kelvin Goertzen (Minister of Education and Training): I thank the member for the question. It is an important a question.

      Representatives from my office have met recently with the Manitoba child's advocate and–to ensure that we're doing all that we can in unprecedented and difficult times, in times that nobody could've predicted only a few months ago, to ensure that all students not just those in care, but are being as connected as possible to the education and the school system. We will continue to have those discussions with all those who care about this issue, which I think is all Manitobans, including the member opposite.

            And in difficult and unprecedented times we know that there are many who are doing their best, working their hardest and achieving great things in a relatively short period of time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March.  South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory.   The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions.   This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14.  Manitoba ( red line )  started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then.   South Dakota ( blue line )   has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4.  Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

  On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.  

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilati...