Young woman died after she no longer received government care: BC youth rep
Posted March 14, 2016 1:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s independent representative for children and youth says a young woman has died tragically after transitioning out of government care.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says the woman was trying to navigate the system of youth support after she was no longer involved with the Children’s Ministry.
No information about the woman or the cause of death has been released, but coroner Barb McLintock says an investigation is underway.
Turpel-Lafond says that at this point in the investigations by police and the coroners service, she can only express her profound sadness and offer support to the woman’s family and friends.
She says the death is a reminder of the frailty of the lives of some young people in BC, especially aboriginal youth as they move from the child welfare system into adulthood.
Last May, Turpel-Lafond released a scathing report saying social workers did nothing to protect a blind 19-year-old aboriginal woman named Paige, who was found dead of a drug overdose in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
