Vaden Johnson knows first hand that a good child and youth care worker can change a person’s life — and so can the wrong ones.
Having entered care at age 15, Johnson cycled through emergency placements, group homes, and independent living arrangements (ILAs).
While he recalls some dedicated workers who helped him learn to cook, drove him to school, and even helped move his furniture into his current apartment, he says that level of support was the exception rather than the rule.
“Drunken staff, no staff, people with little experience hired to just take care of people, locking themselves in the staff room while the kids lay waste,” said Johnson, 20, of his first group home.
“I know the staff are doing the best they can, but choosing to put fresh new staff with disruptive people ends up shying them away [from the field].”
CBC News has obtained, through access to information, provincial government annual compliance reports for residential care providers.
They show a child and youth care system under strain, plagued by staffing shortages, systemic training lapses, and quality-of-care concerns.
At the same time, there was praise for staff who are “strong advocates” for children in their care, and homes that made gains in training and staff consistency.
The names of the private residential care providers are redacted from the documents provided to CBC News.
Leaders in the field say not all residential placements are the same, grappling with high staff turnover. And despite the concerns raised in those inspection reports, they say there has been much improvement over the years in child and youth care.
The challenges, they say, are complex and without easy answers.
Vaden Johnson says having a good child and youth care worker can make all the difference to a young person in care. (CBC)
Johnson says he eventually found his groove in the child protection system, building trust with residential placement managers and workers — though, he says, he hasn’t had many stick around long-term.
It’s been a rocky road to get to that point, punctuated by violence and uncertainly.
“There were kids trying to kill themselves with plastic spoons, like insane stuff. And the second home I lived in, it was that bad to the point where staff were constantly locking themselves in their own room because of violence and just people doing crazy stuff,” Johnson said in a recent interview.
“I’ve had to personally go to staff and rat on my fellow group home people because I don’t want to see people sniffing things or smoking crack or being high on pills.”
Johnson believes child and youth care workers are underpaid, under stress, and often unprepared for the job.
“They’ve got 20-year-olds trying to take care of 18-year-olds,” Johnson said.
The strain on child and youth care workers — and the subsequent repercussions for children in care — is a common thread through the annual reports obtained by CBC News, detailing performance reviews for service providers from 2023 through 2025.
Staff at one organization reported working 24-hour and 36-hour shifts, an annual report noted. In one extreme case, a worker completed a 60-hour shift.
“The overarching themes and concerns within these placements include staff training/qualifications, extended shifts contributing to staff stress and burnout and adherence to policy/protocols,” the report said of four placements in the central-west region.
The documents also show some private operators are failing to ensure that front-line staff possess required training and qualifications, particularly regarding crisis management and trauma-informed care.
A lack of training at one service provider contributed to “inappropriate discipline, multiple referrals and investigations involving physical maltreatment, and gaps in staff knowledge related to responding to challenging behaviours,” an annual report said.
Issues and accolades
An operator was found to have sweeping concerns over inadequate supervision, staff using cell phones on shift, staff sleeping while on duty, and staff using alcohol.
An investigation was launched at a different emergency placement home, in the St. John’s metro area, after a young child began losing weight. The report says the weight loss was the result of “gaps in staff knowledge related to child development.”
While there were serious issues flagged in the reports, there were also accolades for the workers and operators.
One annual report credits a group home with having “exceptional commitment to supporting the unique needs of children and youth in care.”
The report commended the small operator for having Sunday suppers, where family members and friends are invited, and expanding garden space for outdoor activities.
Gordon Hawkins is president of the Child and Youth Care Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. (Ted Dillon/CBC)
Gordon Hawkins acknowledges the concerns raised in some of those reports, but says this province has a stellar reputation internationally when it comes to child and youth care.
Hawkins, president of the Child and Youth Care Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, says great strides have been made in the industry over the years.
“We are rather well-known for our child youth carers … workers and our conferences and the community that we built,” Hawkins said in a recent interview.
“But do we need more workers? Yes, we do. And, you know, some of the things in those reports are not good.”
As of March, there were 225 children and youth in group homes, ILAs and emergency placement homes across Newfoundland and Labrador.
They are a necessary cog in the wheel of child protection, says Heather Modlin, who is a member of CYCA NL and is considered a longstanding leader in the field.
But they are also a costly one — nearly $112.5 million paid by the province to residential placement providers in the last fiscal year, according to records released through access to information.
That amount has nearly doubled in the past seven years.
How to find the best people for the job
Many of those in the child protection system carry heavy trauma, according to Modlin.
She says staff frequently manage intense, unpredictable, and sometimes frightening behaviours — physical aggression, severe emotional outbursts and self-harm — stemming from a child’s past trauma and survival responses.
“It’s highly unusual in regular life that you might be the recipient of some pretty significant insults — a shoe thrown at your head, a chair thrown at the wall, and [a threat] to slit your throat,” Modlin said.
“You have to figure out how to manage that, recognize where it’s coming from, not take it personally and then be the person to support the one who threw all that at you. And that’s the job.”
The debate around how — or if — the field of child and youth care should be regulated has been ongoing for years both nationally and internationally, she says.
The conversation has now shifted.
Group homes and residential care placements ensure children without a home have somewhere to live — and ideally, to thrive. A CBC News investigation has found that’s not always the case. Ariana Kelland has this story in our Left Behind series.
“How do we ensure that children and youth and families who come to the attention of a child and youth care worker are going to receive competent care? That’s the question,” said Modlin, CEO of Amal Youth and Family Centre.
Amal, a non-profit that operates ILAs, group homes, and emergency placement homes across the province, has been steadily growing since 2021.
Employment standards and training rely heavily on employers rather than mandatory professional licensing. Modlin says it’s incumbent on employers, like her, to ensure staff are prepared.
“Sometimes we get behind in training because things get in the way. But you can’t lose the commitment to making sure that you do it,” Modlin said.
“That’s what we signed up for. If we’re not going to be committed to providing the highest level of quality and keep working at that, then we shouldn’t really be doing it.”
Modlin believes there is good government oversight, and to make any drastic changes could create new problems.
“Like anything, things can always improve in some areas with organizations and government. But I do think we’re in a very different place than we were even eight, nine years ago.”
Increase in ‘complex needs’ cases, department says
Social Supports and Well-Being Minister Chris Tibbs declined an interview request.
In a statement, the department said it has oversight of staffed residential placements “through a comprehensive licensing, monitoring, and inspection process.” That includes monthly visits by social workers.
The department acknowledged an increase in the number of children who have “multiple complex needs” and require specialized care.
“The department recognizes the increasing complexity of needs among some children and youth in care and continues to work with licensees to ensure appropriate staffing, training, and program quality across placements,” the statement said.
The department said it’s endeavouring to add more foster homes in the province, but adds that the complexity of some cases means there will always be a need for residential placements.
EDITOR’S NOTE: They are among society’s most vulnerable: children who experience traumatic instability and end up in government care. In this series called “Left Behind,” the CBC Atlantic investigative team explores the challenges and outcomes through the eyes of people who lived through this and those trying to help them.
