10/16/2026
🏫 Child Welfare in the News: “Bleak outcomes: Half of kids in care don't finish high school, and far fewer complete post-secondary”
Another report from the CBC, part of its Left Behind series, looks at educational outcomes for people who grow up in government care. Less than 50% of youth in care across Canada finish high school, and less than 10% of former youth in care complete post-secondary school. In Nova Scotia, more than 90% of all students graduate from high school.
Tuition waivers can help former youth in care access post-secondary education, but tuition alone isn’t enough. Students still need help with housing, food, textbooks, mental health support, and transitioning to living alone without supports.
And the challenges start long before kids age out of care. Repeated moves between foster homes and group homes can mean changing schools, losing connections with friends and teachers, and constantly trying to catch up. As researcher Jacquie Gahagan explains, the system often ends up prioritizing placement changes over educational or emotional stability.
The Path program in NS provides some former youth in care with financial support up to age 24. But provincial briefing notes acknowledge that many people still leave care without graduating high school and transition “directly into poverty.” Nearly 60% of the 730 people who aged out of care in the last 10 years sought Income Assistance at some point.
Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard says children who struggle in school need more support, not less. Trauma and instability can show up in the classroom, but too often the response is to manage behaviour rather than address the cause.
Young people in care deserve stability, support and the opportunity to build a future. That means investing in education and wraparound services while they are still in care and ultimately prioritizing family reunification, not waiting until they turn 19 to try to make up for years of instability.
📰 You can read more at the CBC
