B.C. 'struggling' with care of vulnerable youth, auditor general says

The Office of the Auditor General says the B.C. government is failing to monitor residential services for the province's most vulnerable children and youth in care.

In a report released Wednesday, the office says youth in contracted residential services may not be receiving the support they need because the Ministry of Children and Family Development has failed to set quality standards or oversee the service.

Contracted residential services provided housing, food and other supports last year for about 1,150 children and youth, including many with "highly complex needs."

Auditor General Carol Bellringer says in a news release the ministry is "struggling" to match the specific needs of individuals, and services often evolve on an "ad hoc" basis to respond to individual and emergency situations.

As an example, the office says Indigenous youth are placed in homes with no Indigenous cultural component.

Minister of Children and Family Development Katrine Conroy says the government accepts all four recommendations in the report and will work closely with the office to address them.