COH-AWH-What_Would_it_Take

Difficult Transitions from Care
Transitioning out of the child welfare system was extremely difficult for some youth. Many
young people expressed that they did not have the skills, supports, savings, or networks to
survive on their own after care, and that they had few people to help them with the transition.
Many had also not been supported to create a plan for independent living, and were unaware
of where they could go to get help once they were on their own. Several youth described the
“shock” of being transitioned out of the system overnight, and the incredible effort and time it
took to transition onto other income supports. In some cases, youth transitioned directly from
care into homelessness.
In fact, one Montreal youth viewed his own homelessness as
inevitable because he had been in the foster care system:
“For me, there’s nothing that could’ve [prevented me from becoming homeless],
because starting out I was already in the foster system, and when I left the foster
system they gave me two garbage bags and told me to get the hell out.”
Importantly, youth across the country felt that their
homelessness could have been prevented if they
had greater access to funds and supports when
they were transitioning out of care.
“Upon aging out for myself, I was at risk of becoming homeless...because... as I was
aging out, I was told I needed a plan, and I was told I needed to figure everything out,
but when it came to that point...I wasn’t given any of the services... lists of services, or
introduced to any services that would have helped me figure out these plans, and I had
to find them myself. So, it wasn’t really easy.”
KAMLOOPS YOUTH
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 77