App launched to reduce number of youths reported missing from care

EGADZ, a Saskatoon youth outreach organization, is aiming to reduce the number of youths reported missing from government care by launching a new app that provides more tools and information to youth workers.

The app lets youth workers assess a youth’s risk level — including factors like mental illness or drug use — if they don’t return to their home as scheduled, EGADZ and Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Social Services said in a joint statement. The app guides workers through the process of making a missing person report, if necessary, and allows them to share the young person’s information with local police “with the click of a button.”

The new app was launched Tuesday in Saskatoon, and the provincial government said it may soon be rolled out to other organizations around Saskatchewan. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

The app was demonstrated Tuesday, and will be tested in Saskatoon during a pilot project before ultimately being rolled out to agencies across the province in the months ahead, the ministry said.

Randy Huisman, deputy chief of the Saskatoon Police Service, said if a missing youth is identified as high-risk, the care home will be advised to report the youth as missing to police.

Huisman said missing persons reports to police by EGADZ have dropped from 700 reports in 2018 to 235 in 2022, which he described as a significant decline. He added that missing person reports from Saskatoon care facilities continued to rise during that period, while reports from EGADZ dropped.

Huisman said EGADZ has been appropriately and consistently managing youths in their care by performing risk assessments. In 2018, 305 assessments were done by the organization’s staff, and by 2021 that number had risen to 1,447.

In 2016, Huisman said the Saskatoon police were fielding a huge volume of missing person reports, and a large number were young habitual runaways. That’s why the Saskatoon Police Service and EGADZ worked together to create Operation Runaway, he said.

He added that police can’t tackle the problem alone.

“Issues surrounding why youth are running are very complex, and it’s not just a police problem, but a social problem,” he said. “The saying ‘it takes a community to raise a child’ is true.”

“Not all young people who miss a check-in with their worker are at risk of harm,” Don Meikle, executive director of EGADZ, said in a statement.

“Our youth committee was really clear that we need to engage police services for youth who need to be prioritized and report young people who are truly at risk.”

Meikle said the new app builds on EGADZ’ Operation Runaway risk assessment tool, which has been showing positive results since it was implemented, resulting in a steady decline in the number of young people reported missing from EGADZ homes.

Tianna McCallum-Morin the provincial youth engagement advisor with EGADZ, said the app was created by listening to youths, who will also be involved in making any changes to the app.

“Growing up in the system, I know how traumatizing and even embarrassing it is just having the police show up to escort you home, especially when you weren’t even missing or unsafe in the first place,” she said.

Saskatoon MLA Ken Cheveldayoff said the provincial government was happy to chip in $50,000 to the project.

“EGADZ continues to be one of the most innovative community-based organizations in all of Canada, and we are so proud to partner with them to support vulnerable youth here in Saskatoon,” Cheveldayoff said in a statement.

“The success of the Operation Runaway risk assessment tool is a perfect example of how important youth voices are … This new app expands on that tool, and I have no doubt will be invaluable for agencies in supporting youth across our province.”

The app will launch on Feb. 2, and Meikle said training with the app started last week.

“People are listening to what these kids have to say,” Meikle said.

–With files from Mia Holowaychuk