A Long Road Home: An Account of the First Ever New Brunswick Youth In Care Hearings

On 29 November 2012, members of the New Brunswick Youth In Care Network (NBYICN) organized the first ever New Brunswick Youth In Care Hearings. The hearings were an opportunity for people who had grown up in the care system to speak to government officials and policymakers about their time in the care system. It was a day filled with raw emotion and fruitful discussion.

This report is meant to serve as a complement to the hearings. It is divided into three sections:

The first section provides a summary ofthe conversations NBYICN leaders had with various stakeholders during our 2012 consultation process. In particular, this section details the results of conversations we had with three key groups: social workers, foster parents, and adoptive parents. We have also included a summary of key points raised by our own network members over the course of many internal conversations and meetings.

The second part of the report includes a list of recommendations for government. These recommendations come at the heels of many hours of deliberations and discussions. In this, we have attempted to boil down our recommendations to a relatively short list of things we feel would be very possible to accomplish and very beneficial to youth in care.

Finally, the third section of this report provides some suggestions on how our network may help address the recommendations made. As a network of young people who represent youth in care in New Brunswick, we feel we are in a great position to assist in the implementation of many of these recommendations. This section is meant to show that we wish to be part of the solution, and that our door is always open to greater collaboration with all stakeholders who seek the betterment of the care system.