Victoria, BC: The Representative for Children and Youth
In June of 2014, the Representative for Children and Youth issued a report entitled Finding Forever Families: A Review of the Provincial Adoption System. The report showed that, at any given time, more than 1,000 British Columbia children and youth in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) were waiting to be adopted.
During the release of the report, a joint event between Representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond and Minister Stephanie Cadieux, the Representative committed to issuing periodic updates on the status of B.C.’s waiting children. The is the second of those updates.
Results show that during the fiscal year 2014/15, a total of 265 children and youth in care of the B.C. government were placed for adoption. This total falls below the ministry’s stated goal of 300 adoptions for 2014/15. However, the Representative acknowledges that progress has been made on several fronts as a result of MCFD’s renewed focus on permanency and adoption.