The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate is an independent office of the Alberta Legislature. (Pixabay)

By Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Alberta advocate’s office reports highest number of youth deaths, injuries

Nov 28, 2023 | 9:38 AM

EDMONTON, AB – Forty-one notifications of death and serious injury were concluded by the provincial child and youth advocate’s office during the 2022-2023 report year — a record-breaking number.

READ THE FULL 2023 ANNUAL REPORT

“This year, we saw the highest number of notifications of death of young people since our office received the mandate to conduct investigative reviews in 2012,” advocate Terri Pelton said in a statement Tuesday.

“This is profoundly concerning and underscores the importance of ensuring our recommendations are implemented to help improve services and supports for vulnerable young people.”

Of the 41 notifications, two were received in 2022-2023, 21 were carried forward from 2021-2022 and 18 were carried from 2020-2021.

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A new annual report emphasized that young people benefit when their voices are heard and their perspectives are considered, according to a news release.

This is particularly crucial for those involved in the child intervention and youth justice systems, the report finds.

The office of the child and youth advocate released a pair of investigative review reports that examined the circumstances of 33 young people who had died and came up with three new recommendations to the government as a result.

Several government ministries should create an action plan to address service gaps for young people with complex needs while working on longer-term fixes, read the first recommendation.

The action plan should include targeted activities and milestones that meet the immediate needs of these young people, the report adds.

The second recommendation asks for the children services ministry to examine the connections for each Indigenous child under the ministry’s care and strengthen those connections to their family, community and culture.

The advocate’s office also recommends the ministry publicly provide ongoing annual updates on its examinations of Indigenous children and their connections.