British Columbia’s representative for children says she’s concerned that neither the province nor the country gathers data on the rate of mental health disorders for children in care, especially when other jurisdictions show a much higher rate.
A report from the Children’s Health Policy Centre at Simon Fraser University found children in comparable jurisdictions in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom had “dramatically higher rates” of mental health disorders when compared with the general population.
The report was commissioned by Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s representative for children and youth, and analyzed programs that prevent children from entering care, the prevalence of mental health disorders among youth in care and effective programs for preventing and treating mental disorders.
It found anxiety disorders are more than three times higher among children in care, depression is nearly 10 times higher and post-traumatic stress disorder is 40 times more likely.
