Foster care spaces not being found fast enough: Sask. minister

Actively recruiting and finding more foster homes in Saskatchewan is a continuous effort for the province, according to the minister of social services.

Minister Donna Harpauer is responding to last week’s news that foster children are having to live in a Regina hotel since current foster homes and emergency spaces are all full.

“We want to keep in mind hotels [are] the last resort and not something anyone wants to see and it is rare,” the minister conceded.

Since April 2014, there have been six occasions when hotels were needed. The most recent was last week when 13 kids were put up. Harpauer stated that six of those children were found a different place to live over the weekend, and another four were expected to be moved on Monday. However, another three came into the system. That means there are still kids calling hotels home for the time being.