Ontario is extending new financial support to foster children, also known as Crown wards, enrolled in post-secondary education.
Beginning in September, the provincial government will give $500 monthly during the school year to wards aged 21 to 25 enrolled in post-secondary education or training programs, according to a Jan. 24 press release.
Many of the approximately 1,600 Crown wards attending college or university and receiving OSAP are eligible for the assistance, said Gloria Bacci-Puhl, spokesperson for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.
These wards are past formal Crown wardship, ending at 18, where the youth is assigned a guardian and the government is legally responsible.
Wards turning 18 benefit as well, with a $187 bump in monthly support to $850. This support lasts until they turn 21.
Approximately 2,800 youth aged 18-21 received support through the Extended Care and Maintenance program in 2011-12, and will see an increase in their minimum monthly financial support, Bacci-Puhl said.
These benefits are part of a $24 million provincial expenditure for wards transitioning to adulthood, and are an addition to existing government supports.
The Ontario Access Grant for Crown Wards, available through OSAP, currently covers post-secondary tuition for current and former wards at $3,000 annually for a maximum of four years.
Also beginning September, 11 colleges and universities have agreed to pay the remaining tuition after the grant, to a maximum of $6,000.
The schools participating in this program are Algoma University, Brock University, Laurentian University, Trent University, Ryerson University, Western University, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, York University, Collège Boréal, Canadore College, and Sault College.
Bacci-Puhl estimated 300 Crown wards and youth leaving care will be eligible for this funding.
The funding increase is the result of a report by The Youth Leaving Care Working Group.
It stated that only 44 per cent of youth in and from ward care graduate high school, compared to a provincial average of 82 per cent of youth.
While two per cent of Ontario’s population is aboriginal, aboriginal children and youth make up 22 per cent of the province’s Crown wards.
