Grant: Project Grant

In Canada, 4-7% of children will live in a foster home at some point in their childhood. Childhood trauma and caregiver disruption causes lifelong mental and physical harm and premature mortality. This results in high healthcare use, higher rates of youth pregnancies, complex health and mental health conditions, substance use, and suicide. Due to the ongoing legacy of colonialism, First Nations children continue to be markedly overrepresented in foster care. As well, First Nations children likely experience disparities in health outcomes because they face healthcare inequality. However, these disparities remain largely unquantified. In Canada, until the work we present in this proposal, there were no national data on health outcomes for children in foster care across Canada. Reducing the consequences of foster home experience for all children is a pressing concern with large cultural and societal benefits. Identifying and quantifying the needs of all children with foster home experience, with a distinct approach to First Nations children is needed to inform future investments to health services delivery. Reducing these devastating outcomes is a pressing concern with large potential cost savings and societal benefits. However, a lack of data has led to gaps in health care delivery and a lack of evidence-based decision-making. Our project will leverages a research-ready data platform (CanFos) that, for the first time, will provide provincial and national data on the health of children living in foster homes, enabling multiple studies across Canada. This program will be the largest analysis of health and healthcare use for children living in foster homes in Canada and will provide novel knowledge addressing salient questions for equity-deserving populations and ultimately improve the health outcomes of children in foster homes through evidence-based decision-making.