Appeal dismissal puts Alberta young adults transitioning out of government care in limbo

A Supreme Court appeal dismissal has left hundreds of young adults in Alberta bracing to be cut off from a program that helps them transitionout of government care.

The participants were previously eligible to remain in the Support and Financial Assistance Agreements (SFAA) program until they turned 24, but the UCP government reduced the age of eligibility to 22.

The legislative change was delayed for more than a year byan injunction granted to one of the affected recipients known as A.C. in court documents.

In January, the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned the injunction butwarned that care must be taken to minimize harm to impacted participants.

On June 24, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed A.C.'s application for appeal.

"It is a bit unsettling for me but I'm just really trying to push through it and hope that everyone else is supported by their caseworkers, just like mine is supporting me," said A.C., 22, who is still moving ahead with legal action challengingthe constitutionality of the change.

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A.C. says her social worker helpedher escape a cycle of violence and addiction, reconnecting her and her daughter with their Cree heritage. She is excited to start university in the fall to study social work.

"If it wasn't for me being in the SFAA group and having Melissa [her caseworker]all these years, I definitely think I would have been on a different path and it wouldn't have been a good one," she said.

WithoutSFAA, she worries there won't besomeone to talk to in governmentwho understands what recipients have been through and keeps themon the right path.

"We're not being heard right now and especially with everything that's going on, it's kind of kind of cruel," said A.C., referring to the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children and a foster care system described as a present-day residential school system, where the majority of youth are Indigenous.

"I don't think that we need to be put through anymorethan we already have been through," she said.

The role of the caseworker in the lives of the SFAA recipients often facing trauma, mental illness, addiction and poverty was at the heart of an argument made by A.C.'s lawyer.

Lawyer Avnish Nandasays the abrupt end to services puts participants at greater risk, by losing the person in their lives whomost closely resembles a parent andthefinancial benefits that allow them to finish school and become employable.

"We've received word that the government has been moving quickly to cut off these vulnerable youth from their SFAA supports, doing what the Court of Appeal warned that they shouldn't do and putting these folks into very serious and dangerous situations," said Nanda.

"We're talking about the most vulnerable youth in our province and for the government to just cut these supports at this time is just a travesty.

"I really hope that folks will realize that this, for many, in many instances, is a situation of life and death."

'Someone to rely on'

The provincial government says about 450 SFAA recipients will be affected.

Children's Services says 22- and 23-year-olds are eligible for an extension of six months oreven longer for those unable to connect to the right services.

"Caseworkers will make sure no young adult is left behind by providing access to the right supports and services, and make sure they have someone to rely on for ongoing guidance," said Nancy Bishay, a spokesperson with Children's Services, in an email.

In addition, said Bishay, the Advancing Futures Program "provides funding, social and emotional assistance for young adults aged 18 to 24 who have been in care to help them pursue post-secondary studies and prepare for a career."

She said the government and Native Counselling Services of Alberta have just launched an app to help former and current youth in care navigate the adult world.