Children Involved with the Ministry - Statistics
Fatalities of children who received services under the Child, Family and Community Service Act (including voluntary support services) within the past 12 months.
| Year | Natural |
Accident |
Homicide |
Suicide |
Undetermined** |
Total |
|
Open |
Closed |
||||||
| 1996 | 39 |
24 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
77 |
| 1997 | 52 |
11 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
4 |
81 |
| 1998 | 57 |
18 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
86 |
| 1999 | 44 |
19 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
72 |
| 2000 | 53 |
12 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
75 |
| 2001 | 59 |
21 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
91 |
| 2002 | 44 |
12 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
70 |
| 2003 | 33 |
16 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
8 |
63 |
| 2004 | 50 |
11 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
70 |
| 2005 | 46 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
64 |
| 2006 | 57 |
12 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
85 |
| 2007 | 64 |
10 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
5 |
88 |
| 2008 | 46 |
12 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
4 |
82 |
| 2009 | 44 |
11 |
3 |
3 |
15 |
2 |
78 |
| 2010 | 38 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
1 |
63 |
| *2011 | 15 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
31 |
Download data in CSV format, Fatalities of children who received services.
Fatalities of Children & Youth in Care by Calendar Year
| Year | Natural |
Accident |
Homicide |
Suicide |
Undetermined** |
Total |
|
Open |
Closed |
||||||
| 1996 | 11 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
| 1997 | 13 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
21 |
| 1998 | 8 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
| 1999 | 6 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
| 2000 | 6 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
| 2001 | 6 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
| 2002 | 5 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
| 2003 | 5 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
12 |
| 2004 | 10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
14 |
| 2005 | 4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
9 |
| 2006 | 7 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
13 |
| 2007 | 2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
| 2008 | 6 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
| 2009 | 8 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
| 2010 | 5 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
13 |
| *2011 | 4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
Download data in CSV format, Fatalities of Children and Youth in Care.
- *The 2011 statistics are for a half year (January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011).
- The Ministry verifies child fatality categories of death with the Office of the Chief Coroner of British Columbia. The categorization of a fatality may change as a death is investigated or new information becomes available.
- **In the “Undetermined” category, “open” indicates a case is still under investigation by the Coroner; “closed” indicates the Coroner’s investigation is complete and, due to insufficient evidence or inability to determine, the death cannot reasonably be classified as natural, accidental, suicide or homicide.
For information concerning what happens when a child in care of the ministry dies please see the Accountability, Case Review Summary Reports web page.
As of October, 2007, the BC Coroner's Service is responsible for the investigation of all child deaths.
The Ministry confirms child fatality categories with the BC Coroner's Office as relevant. The category of a fatality may change as a death is investigated. Where the categorization of fatality types has changed since the last posting, this is the result of the Ministry’s ongoing process of updating the fatality categories to mirror updates by the BC Coroner's Service.
Classification of Death
NATURAL: Death primarily resulting from a disease of the body and not resulting secondarily from injuries or abnormal environmental factors.
ACCIDENT: Death due to unintentional or unexpected injury. It includes death resulting from complications reasonably attributed to the injury.
SUICIDE: Death resulting from self-inflicted injury, with intent to cause death.
HOMICIDE: Death due to injury intentionally inflicted by the action of another person. Homicide is a neutral term that does not imply fault or blame.
UNDETERMINED: Death which, because of insufficient evidence or inability to otherwise determine, cannot reasonably be classified as natural, accidental, suicide or homicide.
Links
Child, Family and Community Service Act
Child and Family Development Service Standards
Child Fatality Case Review Summary Reports
Representative for Children and Youth
BC Coroners Service - Child Death Review
BC Coroners Service - Statistics
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