The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth released her report titled “Stop Giving Me a Number and Start Giving Me a Person”: How 22 Girls Illuminate the Cracks in the Manitoba Youth Mental Health and Addiction System on May 7, National Youth Mental Health Day. The report dives into lessons learned from the suicide deaths of 22 Manitoba girls, ages 11-17. These girls were primarily from rural and northern Manitoba communities and died between 2013 and 2019. After investigating their deaths, the Advocate made seven recommendations to the provincial government on ways to fix its youth mental health and addictions systems and therefore improve children and youth’s wellbeing. The recommendations include spreading more equitable services around the province, releasing a public inventory of available therapeutic services and creating more acute services for children and youth with severe needs.

To read the full report, click here.

To read the news release, click here.

To read the Manitoba Advocate’s remarks, click here.

The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth has released her report titled Safe and Sound: A Special Report on the Unexpected Sleep-Related Deaths of 145 Manitoba Infants. The report contains 13 specific recommendations to government to increase the effectiveness and responsiveness of services for infants and their families. The report offers a message of hope: unsafe sleep-related deaths can be reduced in our province by addressing the known risk factors. Improved public education, equal access to safe sleep resources, and improved professional training will contribute to reducing infant deaths.

Safe and Sound: A Special Report on the Unexpected Sleep-Related Deaths of 145 Manitoba Infants

The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth has released its latest report, The Slow Disappearance of Matthew: A Family’s Fight for Youth Mental Health Care in the Wake of Bullying and Mental Illness. There are eight clear recommendations to government within the report that aim to increase access to vital services and prevent youth suicides. Matthew’s story is one of a family desperate to save their son. Matthew’s six-year struggle with depression, anxiety, substance use and persistent thoughts of suicide consumed the family. Still, Matthew’s family had no success in getting him long-term help.

The Slow Disappearance of Matthew Report