In this opinion piece for CBC News, Elizabeth Wall-Wieler, an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca, and a graduate student in Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, discusses findings from a recent study which "followed the children of 5,942 teenage mothers in Manitoba up to their second birthday to see how many were placed into care." The study found that 49% of teenage mothers who were in care when they gave birth had their children put into care before they turned two, "with 25 per cent being placed in care in their first week of life."
"To prevent this cycle of involvement in care from continuing," writes Wall-Wieler, "the child welfare system needs to put in place dedicated resources (money and support workers) to help families stay together. Let's make sure that these families get the support they need to ensure they are the last generation with this experience."