Nearly 70 foster children in Saskatchewan have been housed in hotels over the past two months – a number the province's opposition party says is unacceptable.
"We are shocked and frustrated that the government mislead the public," NDP Social Services Critic David Forbes said Monday.
Forbes' comment comes after the Saskatchewan government said in June that placing foster children in hotel rooms was an "emergency measure" and not a long-term solution. At the time, 55 children were taken into the care of the province's social services, more than double the average number.
In response to that spike, the government opened up an emergency shelter with 13 spaces. That shelter, along with the province's other backup shelters, is now full.
As of Monday, 23 foster children in Regina and four in Prince Albert, Sask., were spending the night in hotels. Across the province, a total of 68 foster children were housed in hotels during the months of July and August.
Garry Prediger, Saskatchewan's acting executive director of community services says that there has been a "higher volume of children" coming into Saskatchewan's foster system this summer. That increase, along with a drop in the number of spaces in care homes, has forced the province to use hotel rooms.
"It's not our intention to continue to use hotels," Prediger told CTV Regina. "But until we are able to develop other plans and options and capacity, we have no other choice to use hotels for care."
The Saskatchewan NDP says the provincial government should hire more front-line social workers to help reduce the caseload and recruit more foster families. They also want the province to establish a legislative standing committee on children and youth to oversee the social services department.
"They've got to be held accountable," Forbes said. "An ongoing standing committee will help."
Concerns about using hotel rooms as emergency placements for children have also been raised in Manitoba, where two teen girls were attacked in separate incidents.
Tina Fontaine, 15, ran away from her downtown Winnipeg hotel last fall. Her body was found days later in the Red River. And in April, another 15-year-old girl who was placed in a Winnipeg hotel was allegedly attacked by another teen who was also being housed at the same hotel.
A spokesperson for Saskatchewan's Social Services Ministry previously said the situation in Manitoba is not the same as in Regina, where most children are under the age of 10, and are staying in hotel rooms with support staff.
"We're not seeing adolescents in these situations," Natalie Huber said in June. "The care we're providing in these hotels – we're heavily supervising. There's 24-hour staff in the rooms."
With files from CTV Regina and The Canadian Press
