St. Thomas University students were consulted in the creation of the province’s five year strategy plan aimed at keeping children and youth from harm in province.
“It’s very important to have good policy that services the needs of children and youth,” said Cathy Rogers, minister of social development.
The strategy has over 100 steps aimed at addressing four key harms that children and young adults face: sociocultural harm, physical harm, sexual harm and emotional harm.
The students involved went through a series of round table discussion, talking about many different issues but mental health seemed to be a staple.
“Access New Brunswick will change the way we deal with youth mental health,” said Norman Bosse, child and youth advocate of New Brunswick. “By creating safe spaces, and the way youth can access mental health services in New Brunswick, it can be much quicker.”
Bosse said hearing from young adults about the issues they face was essential. One student involved with the roundtable discussions, Amanda Richard, felt her involvement was useful.
“A lot of the things I had to say actually mattered and they listened to what I had to say. There was a lot of youth engagement,” said Richard.
The 24-year-old student said she’s an active advocate for children. Richard mentioned the foster care system and the needs of each child.
“The right for a family every child deserves to have a family,” said Richard. “And that doesn’t mean necessarily a mom and dad and a white picket fence. It’s having an adult support in your life.”
The strategy as part of its mandate will be evaluated in three years and suggestions will be made to see if it’s working. The government hopes it will work as a renewable plan, and they say they will continue to work with young adults.
“We were informed by the voices and perspectives of children and youth. So we do know increasing that is important,” said Rogers.
