Archive for the ‘Child & Family’ Category
‘Time and punishment’ now Canada’s way
May. 18, 2012
Corrections – the idea that those in prison might be assisted while incarcerated to be better prepared for life outside jail – is apparently foreign to the Harper government. Instead, it wants to put more people away for longer, then, figuratively speaking, throw away the key. Punishment is in; correction is out. Just when you think this government’s criminal justice policies, which have been almost universally denounced by experts in the field, can’t get worse, they do.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, ideology
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
There really is food poverty in Canada
May 19, 2012
… when our governments leave the feeding of the hungry poor to the indignity and frequent inefficiencies of charitable food banks, our federal leaders should not complain when the inadequacies of our food, nutrition and social policies are pointed out by the UN Special Rapporteur… Regrettably food poverty in Canada since the early 1980s has become socially constructed as a matter for charity. Thirty years later the food bank model (imported from the United States) has failed. Food poverty is a political question requiring the priority attention of our governments.
Tags: budget, featured, Health, poverty, rights, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
MPPs should heed advice from youth who survived the care system
May 14 2012
… whether they need to stay with their parents or be put into care; who their foster parents will be; or when they are ready to fly on their own, finally and forever — none of these decisions they make themselves. They’re all made by others. So their recommendation: The Province of Ontario should recognize that the current system needs to fundamentally change to better prepare young people in care to succeed. [It] should work with young people in and from care and other stakeholders to complete an ACTION PLAN FOR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE…
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Ontario’s Youth Leaving Care hearings call for fundamental change to child welfare system
May 14 2012
The goal is to make Ontario a better parent to roughly 8,300 children and youth in its care and make their transition to adulthood more secure. The report being released Monday at Queen’s Park, says the government should act immediately to raise the age of financial and emotional support from 21 to 25; allow youth to stay in foster care beyond age 18; and declare a “Youth in Care Day” to raise awareness and reduce stigma.
Tags: rights, standard of living, youth
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Ontario openly defies Vic Toews over gun registry despite new RCMP warning
May 11, 2012
“We’re not going to adopt a long-gun registry here in Ontario,” McGuinty said… “But we will maintain a practice that’s been in place since 1978… if your intention was to not only eliminate the long-gun registry but a pre-existing practice, I think you need to make that clear.”… the chief firearms officer of the Ontario Provincial Police interprets section 58 of the Firearms Act as giving him the power to impose that requirement.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights
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From one battlefield to another
May 12 2012
Every generation updates and renews the values that make us who we are. I once found it hard to truly understand what those in my grandfather’s generation meant when they spoke of making the ultimate sacrifice in wartime to allow their loved ones back home to live in a democracy… The Canada I went overseas to fight for was a tolerant and open society, always striving to do the right thing, and to bring to the world a sense that tomorrow can be better than today. Today, though, the government in Ottawa seems to want to throw all that out the window.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
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Ontario’s child welfare system has failed 7-year-old Katelynn Sampson
May 02 2012
There is no point in simply recommending more rules if they are either unworkable or will be ignored. Years of court cases, inquests, pediatric death review committee reports and internal children’s aid reviews have led to an increasing number of laws, rules and procedures to follow. Yet, somehow, children like Katelynn are still dying… This government saw fit to appoint a commission to make child welfare more cost effective. How about a commission with a mandate to make it better?
Tags: child care, rights, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Canadians ‘empathetic’ to those with mental illness, addiction: Report
May 01, 2012
In the report, Canada Speaks 2012: Mental Health, Addictions and the Roots of Poverty… 87% said the government needs to make mental illness a higher priority, and 84% said there should be more services to help those with addictions… When it comes to mental illness and poverty, 80% said there is a link… the results of this year’s survey are “promising and reveal a population that recognizes the barriers and obstacles facing Canadians that suffer from either mental illness or addiction.”
Tags: disabilities, Health, mental Health, poverty
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Violence problems transcend gender
April 29, 2012
Transition houses are full of women whose health and well-being are threatened due to violence, addictions, poverty, compromised life skills and a host of other issues. The focus, though, of them and us, men vs. women, is a disturbing trend. Can we not agree that “hurt people hurt people”? The ones who do damage are the ones who are damaged themselves. If energies and money focused on this, rather on alienating and criminalizing an entire gender, we may come closer to dealing with the real issue – hurt people hurt people.
Tags: disabilities, featured, Health, mental Health, poverty, women
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »
Ottawa to cut health care for some refugees
Apr 25 2012
Currently, all refugees are covered by the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which provides basic health coverage, sometimes with supplementary services such as pharmaceutical care, dentistry, vision care and devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, if required… The plan announced Wednesday stipulates that rejected claimants and refugees from designated countries won’t be eligible for health care unless their conditions put the public at risk. All refugees will also be stripped of supplemental health coverage.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, immigration, rights, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
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