Helping Foster Kids!

What in the world? (Summary of the Event)

In Ontario, children in foster care are in a complete and utter disadvantage in terms of education. Parents with children living at home often use their child benefits and opening up a Registered Education Savings Plan. The parental investments trigger $2000 in federal learning bonds and the federal government actually matches the contributions put forth by parents to a maximum of $7200. I t would cost the government 8 million dollars a year just to set up a comparable social benefits program that targets those children in foster care in Ontario alone. By law, those in foster care must leave by the age of 18. In all likelihood, they usually drop out of school before post secondary education because they must provide food and shelter by working before they can focus on their own education. Many aspiring workers remain living at home till their mid 20’s today, which adds to their advantage further.

Cause-Effect Predictions (Positive Economic Statement)

If the federal government provided a better education benefits program for foster children then fewer children within child care would drop out of high school, as it stands fewer than 44 percent of foster children complete high school by the age of 21. If the federal government decided to help education in Ontario then not only will they be using 8 million dollars out of the budget but they would also have to compensate the other provinces as well. The whole process will be too costly to maintain and sustain for a long period of time. If lobbying is successful and financial assistance is given to those in foster care then taxes may increase for the average Canadian citizen, in hopes for equal opportunity for all Canadians.

My Amazing Opinion (What Should Happen)

The government should start the segregation of education paths at a young age, so that people will learn to specialize into a designated field at a younger age. Thus, there is a higher chance of attracting foster children to pursue their designated careers before they are forced to leave foster care. The federal government should remove the fact that they will match the contributions made by parents and use that money to create a fund that grants assistance to those based on financial security and puts priority to those who need it the most. The segregation of education should be implemented into Canada as people will be equipped to enter the labour force at a younger age and they leave school with the skills and knowledge needed to start their lives. This approach allows for people who do not require as much schooling to go straight into the workforce and thus sufficiently reducing the use of taxpayers’ money on individuals that do not need it as their jobs do not require further education. This approach is much more favourable than sustaining the Registered Education Savings Plan, because the plan not only assists parents that are already able to make consistent contributions their education fund, but the federal government also matches the contributions of those parents and thus helping these parents even further.


Monsebraaten, Laurie. "Foster Kids Shut Out of Education Benefits." Toronto Star 17 May 2010: A1 and A12. Print.