Editor, The News:
I can’t read another article about the kids who are falling through the cracks of our government system.
It just doesn’t make sense to me that once a child hits a certain age they are shoved out into the world with very little support.
Our children should be our main concern. First, not last.
How can we shut down a facility with 35 children in it and host dole these kids out wherever? Into hotels, the eastside? Boarding houses?
We tend to think that once children turn 18, they are adults and can fend for themselves.
As we have seen, this is not true.
Mostly because these kids have been in the foster care system all their lives and have no family or money behind them to survive.
I don’t know what the answer is, but surely there is one.
I think all of humanity would say, how can we help?
The answer is not one any of us want to hear, but it probably boils down to money, and that means perhaps we need to pay a little more in taxes, proportionate to our incomes.
A child is a precious person who needs to be nurtured and loved, not thrown away because no one cares.
Bonnie Telep
Maple Ridge