Giving foster kids a fair shot in life | Donner aux enfants placés en famille d’accueil une chance équitable dans la vie

Jane Kovarikova is a former foster child, current PhD candidate, and advocate for child rights across Canada. She is the founder of the Child Welfare Political Action Committee, a Canadian charity advocating for a progressive child welfare system.

• From foster kid to advocate for changes in child welfare policy [2:53]
• Outcomes for youth after they leave care [6:49]
• Privacy of records, sealing youth records when they age out of the system to help them move on from their past [9:19]
• Balancing safety, research, and privacy [13:11]
• Work on a private member's bill to address privacy fairness for foster kids [16:35]
• Bringing lived experience to leadership in the child welfare sector [19:20]
• Service providers adjusting to new privacy rights and protections under Part X of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act [22:26]
• What it’s like to not really control your own history [24:12]
• Ways to promote Part X compliance by service providers [27:55]
• Helping former and current foster kids who want to learn more about their access and privacy rights under the law [29:50]

Resources:

• Child Welfare Political Action Committee
• Advocates seek privacy rights for foster kids after age 21 so they can get ‘fresh start’ (Toronto Star)
• Former foster child first to lead local Children’s Aid in 126-year history Toronto Star)
• It’s About You: Your file and Your Rights Under Ontario’s Child and Family Services Law (IPC brochure)
• Providing Access to Personal Information under the Child, Youth and FamilyServices Act: A Guide for Service Providers (IPC guidance)
• Access, Privacy and the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (IPC webinar)
• IPC Strategic Priorities 2021-2025

Info Matters is a podcast about people, privacy, and access to information hosted by Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. We dive into conversations with people from all walks of life and hear stories about the access and privacy issues that matter most to them.

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Have an access to information or privacy topic you want to learn more about? Interested in being a guest on the show? Send us a tweet @IPCinfoprivacy or email us at podcast@ipc.on.ca.

The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only. It should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the IPC does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this podcast, and information from this podcast should not be used or reproduced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. None of the information, opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast bind the IPC’s Tribunal that may be called upon to independently investigate and decide upon an individual complaint or appeal based on the specific facts and unique circumstances of a given case.