N.B. social services minister vows changes after scathing youth advocate report

N.B. Social Development Minister Cindy Miles speaks to reporters at the legislature, in Fredericton, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eli Ridder

FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick official has promised changes to the way the province helps vulnerable youth as lawmakers started hearings Wednesday into an advocate’s report detailing failures within the Social Development Department.

Social Development Minister Cindy Miles said Wednesday any youth turned away by her department will be referred immediately to a community organization for support.

She said the department is removing barriers to a youth assistance program, including a previous requirement that an applicant for assistance had to be out of their home for a minimum of three months and be attending school.

Miles said her department will also launch a third-party review of how it screens youth for government help.

The minister announced the changes in a statement ahead of the legislative hearing.

Kelly Lamrock, the province’s child and youth advocate, urged lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon to change how youth services are delivered and hold the department accountable for following through.

“The Department of Social Development has repeatedly failed to live up to a clear, unanimous multi-partisan mandate to act more quickly with more accountability,” Lamrock said.

In his May report, Lamrock said the overdose death of a 16-year-old last year reflects a systemic failure and a lack of humanity within the Social Development Department.

In one instance, a social worker assessed the teenager, whom the report calls “Bobby,” after an overdose and told him he was ineligible to join a government support program for youth because he was homeless, the advocate said.

In the report, Lamrock provides a dozen recommendations for legislators that he says would start to address the problems that let Bobby fall through the cracks in the system.

As well, the report says the department treated many of the child’s crises in isolation instead of connecting the dots and providing the support he needed.

On Wednesday, Miles reaffirmed that her department accepted all of Lamrock’s proposed changes, saying she shared a draft response with the advocate and planned to include suggestions from the committee in her final copy.

The minister said her department would “create a dedicated child and youth well-being team operating provincially to ensure better support and co-ordination for young people across all regions of New Brunswick.”

It wasn’t clear how quickly those changes would be implemented. The Social Development Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A second day of hearings is slated for Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2026.

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press