Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Madam Chair, Mr. Vice-Chair,
distinguished members of the committee, good morning.
Allow me to start by conveying the best wishes of New Brunswick's ombudsman and child and youth advocate, Mr. Bernard Richard, who was unable to travel to the nation's capital today. In his stead, I am pleased to have this opportunity, as senior investigator and delegate, to offer insight into some of our advocacy work and findings in the field of adoption in New Brunswick.
My area of expertise is children and youth involved in the criminal justice system. As the office's liaison with provincial community services and corrections, I have frequent encounters with young people subjected to custodial orders and probation undertakings and whose life stories involve shattered attempts at successfully establishing meaningful relationships within a family context.
In this context, my role as child and youth advocate is, by making recommendations, to ensure that the implementation of relevant policies, acts and regulations is consistent with children's rights and guided by their greater interest.
New Brunswick's adoption system falls under the responsibility of the Department of Social Development. Adoption is governed by the Family Services Act, and the department statistics indicate a consistency in the area of adoption of infants and private adoptions.
There has been a particular interest in international adoptions in recent years. However, department statistics also tell of a more disturbing trend, one in which our office is increasingly called on to intervene. The number of adoptions involving young people with special needs is slowly but consistently on the rise. These young persons are those who have impairments--intellectual, physical, emotional, or behavioural--that limit their ability to participate in the daily activities at home, school, and in their communities.
In 2009-10, for example, the number of families receiving subsidies for adopted children with special needs was up 9% from the previous year. The number of older special needs children placed or adopted is also on a rising curve, increasing to 806 youths from last year's 730. It must be noted that these youths are placed for adoption, not necessarily adopted.
This situation has raised two major concerns: on the one hand, the availability of adoption options and, on the other hand, the fact that, as a result of the current economic situation and accompanying budget realities, the availability of resources to support the needs of these young people and their families is precarious.
What is disconcerting is that while the increase in the number of child care residential centres is stagnant, the number of foster families is decreasing. Given that we have no indication of the number of potential adoptive parents of youth with special needs, there are even more reasons to be concerned.
Our office is often called upon to advocate on behalf of these young persons who find themselves living where they can—some couch-surfing, others simply living in shelters or on the street. An increasing number of these youth turn to illicit activities to survive and end up in the youth criminal justice system. Sadly, some go as far as sharing with me their appreciation of a closed custody setting, as it provides three meals a day, a roof over their head, an education, and activities that would otherwise not be offered to them.
Children with highly complex needs, those whose treatment requirements are beyond what provincial departments can offer, occasionally find themselves caught in this vicious circle. In some unfortunate cases, parents have to relinquish temporary custody of their child to the care of the province in order to access treatment. This also leads to the breakdown of adoption attempts, and the impact of these failures is measured in costs to the young person, the family, and society as a whole.
The options left, such as group homes, are also limited and not necessarily conducive to the delivery of successful, sustainable, and continuing treatment and services.
In view of these challenges, the wish to respect the distribution of powers is praiseworthy, but how does it measure up against the traumatizing experience of children who, for reasons beyond their control, are denied by opportunity to be adopted for lack of specialized services or as a result of the financial burden associated with clinical treatments?
In conclusion, I respectfully submit that assessing federal support measures available to adoptive parents and their adopted children should take into account the short-term as well as the long-term positive impact of a national strategy. This would involve a collaborative effort between provincial, territorial, and federal actors to develop and implement an adoption clinical support program for families, children, and youth who require it; a consultation process involving stakeholders, families, and young persons, who may assist in identifying the needs and options required to tackle the challenges that exist within the system; and finally, revisiting or establishing targeted funding transfers to offer increased support to potential or existing adoptive parents who struggle with the challenges and costs of caring for their child.
The well-being of children and youth should serve as a cornerstone for dialogue and concerted efforts between all jurisdictional levels. It would be consistent with our obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Also in that spirit, at the domestic level, New Brunswick's child and youth advocates, in partnership with provincial and territorial counterparts, have been calling for the establishment of a federal commissioner of children's rights.
Perhaps the work accomplished by this committee will lead to findings and recommendations that endorse the provincial and territorial advocates' positions.
Adoption is a path that enables both child and adult to grow, but the experience must be maintained and take into account potential long-term needs. Those needs may emerge later in the child's life, subtly but nevertheless to devastating effect.
People cannot be forced to adopt, but when incertitude stands in the way of potential adoptive parents' willingness or ability to provide stability, security, and comfort to a wanting child, I think this sends a very strong message.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to speak before you this morning.
