Health status of children and youth in care in British Columbia: What do the mortality data show?

This report represents a step forward in our ability to measure and monitor the health status of one particularly vulnerable group of children and youth – those who have come into government care.

For the first time, death rates for children and youth in care have been calculated and compared with those of the general population. Trends are examined over a 15-year period, during which there were 226 deaths to children in care and a total of 7,842 deaths in the B.C. population age 0 to 18. While not a measure of health per se, mortality (death) provides an indication of the health problems and risk conditions that children and youth experience.