Neglected by the province, foster care is a fast track to the streets

Neglected by the province, foster care is a fast track to the streets

Jody Coyen isn't surprised that half of the women Robert Pickton is guilty of killing are alumnae of the provincial foster-care system. At 34, she's already a veteran of the Downtown Eastside's street life and was friends with many of the missing women. In an interview at the Ovaltine Cafe on December 11, Coyen told the Georgia Straight that "most people down here have the same story. They were abused as children, come from alcoholic homes, stayed in foster care."

In fact, 65 percent of people who live on the street are former kids in care, according to a study commissioned by the B.C. Federation of Foster Parent Associations. The statistic chills the federation's president, Melanie Filiatrault. Having fostered 42 children, she knows some of them are not making good choices and are vulnerable, just like Pickton's victims.