OCYA experiences busy year

The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate released its annual report for 2014-2015 for what Advocate Del Graff says has been “one of the busiest for the office.” OCYA began work on a special report regarding the over-representation of Aboriginal children in care, which is a significant and growing concern in Alberta. The special report will make recommendations to the government, with a goal of improving the experiences that Aboriginal children and families have with the child intervention system. The OCYA’s investigative mandate expanded to review circumstances where young people died within two years of receiving child intervention services. In 2014-2015, a total of 2,526 young people, almost 60 per cent Aboriginal, were served by individual advocacy services through screenings, information gathering, or working on advocacy issues with an advocate.