A new paper in the Journal of Public Child Welfare did something useful. It sat down with 25 people who actually work Manitoba's leaving-care system and asked what is working, and what is not.
The authors studied the path First Nations, Métis, and Inuit young people take out of Manitoba Child and Family Services. They looked at three stretches: planning, leaving, and after-care. The through-line is not a surprise to anyone who does this work. Young people get left in a gap. Old enough to be cut off. Not set up to live.
You can read the paper here: Transitioning out of the child welfare system in Manitoba, Canada.
What they said is broken
The paper names a short list. We are not adding to it.
Block funding. Exits tied to a birthday, not to whether someone is ready. An extension of care process that is fuzzy and heavy to use. Young people stuck in survival mode, without belonging or a real connection to carry them.
Taken together, the authors say, that can leave someone in a liminal state. Not in care. Not launched.
None of that is new to a worker with a full caseload. What is new is 25 people inside the system saying it in one place, in 2026, with the planning / leaving / after-care split made explicit.
What they want instead
Again, their list, not ours.
Funding that is flexible and actually secure. Exits based on readiness. Clear rules for extended care. Cultural programming and practice in each phase, not as a poster on the wall. First Nations, Métis, and Inuit voices and jurisdiction in the fix.
Young people already said a version of this. Our earlier piece on the youth-led report, Surviving, Not Living, is the companion from their side of the table. This paper is the worker and system side.
What that means on a Winnipeg Tuesday
Manitoba already tells case managers to start a transition plan at 15. That is in the CFS Standards Manual, section 1.1.7. A plan on paper is not an apartment, and it is not a promise we have a unit waiting.
After 18, the usual agency tool is an Agreement with Young Adults — an extension of care. The old shorthand was permanent wards only. That is out of date. Since June 1, 2026, support after the age of majority sits in The Child and Family Services Act s. 50.1. Kinship, customary, voluntary care, temporary or permanent guardianship: if one of those applied the day before the 18th birthday, the young person may still be in play. We wrote the worker version on the referral page. Confirm it against the current consolidation before you rely on it. We are not the decision-maker.
Housing money is thinner than a lot of checklists still assume. The Canada-Manitoba Housing Benefit youth stream — the private-market top-up for people 17 to 26 who have been in CFS care — is fully subscribed. Manitoba's own page says application intake is closed. Applications not approved by end of day March 3, 2025 are not being processed. People already on it, and renewals, keep it. Provincial Rent Assist is still taking new applicants. New Steps is not a rent top-up and does not replace that benefit.
If you want the young-person version of extensions of care, send them this guide.
What we will and will not claim
New Steps is an Independent Living Program in Winnipeg. Support is around if you need it, day or night. Not staff sitting in the suite. Not a licensed staffed home. We teach cooking, groceries, budget, school, IDs, a bank account. After 21 the work is a real exit plan and help finding a place they can afford. Affordable housing buildings are a goal. Not a building we can hand someone today.
We are one door. We do not house every young person who ages out in this province. A referral is a conversation and a tour. When a unit is open, it can come together in about a week. We do not take same-day or overnight placements. If someone needs somewhere tonight, that is not us. Call 911 if they are in danger. Get Help lists the Manitoba Suicide Prevention line, Klinic, and Kids Help Phone.
Workers: start on /professionals or call 431-444-2114. Young people can call the same number, or go to /get-help. If we are not the right fit, we will say so early.
