The Child and Youth Advocate says there has been no improvement in finding permanent homes for children in care since her office first raised the alarm some 12 years ago.

Karen Gray says statistics provided by the Department of Families and Affordability for the six-year period 2018-24 show that over 500 young people are in continuous care each year, yet only about 190 adoptions have been finalized in the same time-frame.

Justice Laura A. Mennie, in a decision filed with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, found that sections of two provincial laws governing same violated the Charter rights of a child.

She says the statistics illustrate that obtaining permanency after a continuous custody order is made is a regrettably slow process in this province.

Advocate Gray says in light of the ruling, her office will be conducting an examination of how permanency planning is done. As part of that, she will be asking for numbers and data on lost children awaiting.

“Where are the plans, how many children are available for adoption, how many children have their adoptions finalized – those are the things we’ll be looking for from the department in order to give the review the comprehensiveness that it needs,” says Gray.