A report from Saskatchewan’s Advocate for Children and Youth recommends the Social Services Ministry enhance its group home oversight and accountability structure to make sure there are enough people to provide care and enough financial resources.

Lisa Broda’s report stems from an incident in June of last year when a seven-year-old child with complex care needs was found naked and confused in a parking lot at a Tim Hortons in north Saskatoon when employees came to open up at 5. It wasn’t until shift change at the group home around 7:30 when it was realized he wasn’t in his room. Broda says the home had been struggling with staffing levels, internal discord and other critical issues. The private group home, which is no longer running, was about a kilometre away from the Tim Hortons location. Shortly after this incident, another child diagnosed as malnourished was hospitalized.

The Children’s Advocate also recommends the Ministry of Social Services develop a permanent resource for group home operators, which provides a clear point of contact and support and a list of resources to help with things like skill development. Her third recommendation is that when going through the group home approval process, the Ministry should include identifying and verifying the qualifications and training of staff, and taking into consideration the unique needs of the children who will be in the home.

The Advocate’s office has fielded numerous complaints about group home care and oversight for several years. Broda says that along with the lack of coordinated oversight, there is also no straightforward plan for proactive monitoring of the group homes.

Looking at the whole system, Broda would prefer there were more children with families instead of in group homes.  She cites there are almost a thousand children in group homes right now and more than half of them are under eleven with 130 group homes across the province.

For the full report, click here.