New Democrats call for committee hearings on the ongoing crisis facing vulnerable children and youth

QUEEN’S PARK – MPP Monique Taylor, Ontario NDP Critic for Children, Community and Social Services, will introduce a motion to demand an emergency committee on the crisis facing Ontario’s most vulnerable children and youth.

“Decades of chronic underfunding have left generations of kids caught in a system of neglect,” said Taylor. “We need an honest and transparent process - on the public record - to acknowledge how this province is failing kids.”

New Democrats have echoed the calls to action from service providers, advocacy groups, educators and experts – including the former Children and Youth Advocate, Irwin Elman.

“We have 73,000 children waiting for autism services," said Taylor. "Over 100 deaths per year connected to children in care. Kids put up in hotels and Airbnb's. From mental health supports to complex care needs, foster care to youth justice, resources to our schools and our communities - every program and system that children and youth depend on is in crisis.”

“The government cannot ignore this fundamental responsibility any longer," said Taylor. "We must transform child welfare into a child wellbeing system, so that kids and their families get what they need, when they need it.”

Background

• MPP Taylor will table a motion calling for the Standing Committee on Social Policy to strike an emergency committee on the child welfare crisis, to take place from December 2024 through to February 2025
• British Columbia’s Representative for Children and Youth recently concluded a thorough investigation of child welfare in the province, calling for a system-wide overhaul in the Don’t Look Away report