Children & Youth in Care
Children & Youth in Care
Not Only Safe, but Thriving
RCY advocates for the well-being and rights of children and youth in care and, by association, their families and caregivers every day. We help them understand their rights, access services, and speak up when something is not working. Through reviews, investigations and systemic reports, RCY also identifies opportunities for government and care providers to strengthen care and makes recommendations for action.
We cannot achieve this North Star alone. But together, by choosing a new direction, we can build a system of care where every child in B.C. is safe from harm, connected and thriving.
– RCY Report, “Annual Report 2024/25”
What RCY is Hearing
Across the province, children and youth in care are asking for the same things that help all young people thrive: connection, safety, and love. But for too many, those needs are not being met.
RCY continues to hear about:
- Frequent placement moves that disrupt relationships, schooling, and community ties.
- Long waits or gaps in mental health, disability, and substance-use supports.
- Lack of consistent caregivers and culturally grounded connections.
- Barriers to education and transitions, including leaving care at age 19.
- Practices in foster and staffed (group) homes that are discriminatory, punitive, transactional and harmful.
Youth and families also describe systems that respond only in crisis, rather than supporting prevention, stability, and well-being from the start.
When young people run from care, they are often running from pain, not protection.
– RCY Report, “Missing”
What We're Doing
RCY advocates for children and youth in care and, by association, their families every day, helping them understand their rights, access services, and speak up when something is not working. Through reviews and systemic reports, RCY also identifies where the government must act to strengthen care.
Our recent work includes:
- Advocating for belonging, including relational, cultural, physical, legal and identity belonging – through nurturing, stable and lasting connections to extended family, culture, and community
- Calling for better coordination across ministries so children do not fall through gaps between child welfare, education, health, mental health, substance use and disability services
- Highlighting the voices of youth in care through reports such as Missing and Skye’s Legacy, which expose the harms of disconnection and the need for culturally-attuned and trauma-aware systems of care
- Monitoring rights and outcomes for children in care, including those placed in staffed residential homes or group settings
- Supporting Indigenous self-determination in child and family services and calling for substantive equality and equitable access to resources
RCY believes that being in care should not mean losing connection, culture, or hope. If children and youth can’t live with family for any reason, they deserve to grow up in environments that nurture their identity, honour their voices, and hold them in relationships that last. Because every young person deserves to be seen, supported, and surrounded by care that does not give up on them.
By the Numbers
As of March 2025,
children and youth were in government care in B.C.
– Ministry of Children and Family Development
In 2024/25,
young people transitioned from the Agreements with Young Adults (AYA) program to the new Strengthening Abilities and Journeys of Empowerment (SAJE) program. Many experienced reductions in monthly financial support and housing insecurity during the transition.
– The Office of the Representative for Children and Youth
Reports and Resources
Interested in learning more about our work?
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