格雷森·巴尔赞年仅12岁时，童年的最后一点痕迹就被夺走了。一只破旧、独眼的毛绒玩具狗“帕皮”是他被安置进政府照护、送往新斯科舍省达特茅斯一家集体寄养家庭时，为数不多带走的物品之一。他从婴儿时期就拥有它。
Grayson Balzan was only 12 when the last pieces of his childhood were stolen. A tattered, one-eyed stuffed toy dog named Puppy was one of the few items he took with him to a Dartmouth, N.S., group home when he was placed into government care. He’d had it since he was a baby.
巴尔赞把帕皮藏在自己的私人房间里，但另一名青少年偷走了它并藏了起来。狗最终被归还了，但伤害已经造成。
Balzan had Puppy tucked away in his private room when another youth swiped it and hid it. The dog was eventually returned, but the damage was done.
他在入住的最初几周里回忆说，寄养家庭里的其他孩子砸碎玻璃杯或盘子，撕下墙上的海报，向他扔食物，或者威胁要跟他打架。所以他离开了。
In the first weeks of his stay, he said he remembers other kids in his group home smashing glasses or dishes, ripping posters from walls, throwing food at him, or threatening to fight him. So he left. “I would go anywhere, anywhere other than there,” said Balzan, now 21.
“现在的我21岁了，巴尔赞说：“我会去任何地方，只要不是那里。”
For the first time, Nova Scotia is tracking how many youth in care run away like Balzan did. In the last year, group homes have reported hundreds of incidents when youth went missing and were considered at “imminent risk,” a problem the provincial department in charge acknowledges is a major concern.
新斯科舍省首次开始追踪有多少受照护青少年像巴尔赞那样离家出走。在过去一年里，集体寄养家庭报告了数百起青少年失踪且被认定处于“迫在眉睫的风险”中的事件，主管该事务的省级部门承认这是一个主要关切问题。
For the first time, Nova Scotia is tracking how many youth in care run away like Balzan did. In the last year, group homes have reported hundreds of incidents when youth went missing and were considered at “imminent risk,” a problem the provincial department in charge acknowledges is a major concern. The numbers come from new quarterly reports compiled by the Department of Opportunities and Social Development that the CBC obtained through a freedom of information request.
这些数据来自机会与社会发展部编制的新季度报告，加拿大广播公司（CBC）通过信息自由请求获得了这些报告。
Between August 2025 and March 2026, the province tracked hundreds of serious incidents at group homes. Among them, 491 involved a missing child or youth, and it appears from the statistics that some youth are running away repeatedly.
2025年8月至2026年3月期间，该省追踪了集体寄养家庭发生的数百起严重事件。其中，491起涉及儿童或青少年失踪，从统计数据来看，一些青少年正在反复离家出走。
Between August 2025 and March 2026, the province tracked hundreds of serious incidents at group homes. Among them, 491 involved a missing child or youth, and it appears from the statistics that some youth are running away repeatedly. Fewer than 150 children in Nova Scotia live in group homes, suggesting some youth are being reported missing and at risk multiple times.
新斯科舍省居住在集体寄养家庭的儿童不足150人，这表明一些青少年被多次报告失踪且处于风险之中。
While serious incidents in group homes have long been reported on an individual level, two years ago Nova Scotia’s auditor general criticized the department for not examining them for "trends or patterns that need to be addressed." Weak oversight of N.S. youth homes increases risk of improper child care: auditor Auditor general’s report on well-being of children in care The department accepted the AG’s recommendation and in the summer of 2025 began doing this quarterly analysis.
虽然集体寄养家庭发生的严重事件长期以来都有个别报道，但两年前，新斯科舍省审计长批评该部门未对这些事件进行分析，以查明“需要解决的趋势或模式”。新斯科舍省青少年寄养家庭监管薄弱增加了不当儿童看护风险：审计长 审计长关于受监护儿童福祉的报告 该部门接受了审计长的建议，并于2025年夏季开始进行这种季度分析。
While serious incidents in group homes have long been reported on an individual level, two years ago Nova Scotia’s auditor general criticized the department for not examining them for "trends or patterns that need to be addressed." Weak oversight of N.S. youth homes increases risk of improper child care: auditor Auditor general’s report on well-being of children in care The department accepted the AG’s recommendation and in the summer of 2025 began doing this quarterly analysis. Group homes top spot for missing person reports Lorna Ferguson, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Regina, believes it’s critical to pay attention to trends of youth being reported missing.
集体寄养家庭成失踪人口报告高发地 里贾纳大学犯罪学与刑事司法助理教授洛娜·弗格森认为，关注青少年失踪的趋势至关重要。
“Missing persons kind of sits at the hub of a lot of social problems in Canada, but yet there's not a lot of attention on it,” said Ferguson, who has written multiple books on the topic.
“失踪人员处于加拿大许多社会问题的核心，但对此却关注不足，”撰写过多本相关著作的弗格森表示。
She said missing youth can be more likely to end up homeless or vulnerable to other dangers like human trafficking.
她说，失踪青少年更有可能最终流落街头，或面临人口贩运等其他危险。
She said missing youth can be more likely to end up homeless or vulnerable to other dangers like human trafficking.
弗格森的研究显示，集体寄养家庭是青少年被报告失踪的“第一大地点”，也是加拿大失踪人口报告总数最多的来源地。
Ferguson’s research shows group homes are the “number one location” where youth are reported missing, and the place where the most Canadian missing persons reports originate overall.
部分原因在于集体寄养家庭被要求报告失踪青少年，且通常年轻人会在几小时内平安找到或自行返回。但在这庞大数字的背后，隐藏着一些年轻人受到伤害的案例。
That’s partly because group homes are required to report missing youth, and often the young person is found safely within hours or returns on their own. But buried within that larger number are some cases where young people are harmed.
弗格森表示：“由于身处此类境地的青少年本身就存在脆弱性，任何从集体寄养家庭失踪的案件都有可能演变成对失踪者有害或负面的经历。”
“Any case that goes missing from a group home, because of the pre-existing vulnerabilities for youth in these situations, can have the potential to turn into a harmful or negative experience for the missing person,” said Ferguson.
根据加拿大皇家骑警国家失踪人员和身份不明遗骸中心的数据，新斯科舍省警方每年记录数百名“离家出走”儿童，2025年约有500起报告。
According to the RCMP’s National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Nova Scotia police reports list hundreds of “runaway” children each year, with approximately 500 reports in 2025.
2024年皇家骑警的一项分析表明，被审查的新斯科舍省案件中，超过一半涉及“惯常”或“长期”离家出走的儿童和青少年。青少年为何失踪？巴尔赞表示，他离开寄养家庭是因为那里从未让他感到安全。
An RCMP analysis in 2024 suggested more than half of examined Nova Scotian cases represented “habitual” or “chronic” runaway children and youth. Why do youth go missing? Balzan said he left his group home because it never felt like a safe place for him.
作为一名自闭症谱系人士，且是寄养家庭中年龄最小的孩子，他表示自己瞬间成为了大孩子们霸凌和肢体暴力的目标。在他的毛绒玩具被盗后，他觉得无法再信任寄养家庭的工作人员。
Being on the autism spectrum and the youngest in the group home, he said he instantly became a target for bullying and physical violence from older kids. After the theft of his stuffed animal, he felt he couldn't trust the group home staff.
巴尔赞说，在小学时期他遭受性侵和药物滥用困扰的那些年里，Puppy（毛绒玩具的名字）一直是他的慰藉。工作人员称对此盗窃案无能为力。
Balzan said Puppy had been a comfort to him in years when he struggled with sexual abuse and substance abuse in elementary school. The staff said there wasn’t much they could do about the theft. “I was just really distraught because I was a kid and that was like the only thing I had that was really important to me,” he said.
“我当时真的非常崩溃，因为我只是个孩子，那是我唯一真正重要的东西，”他说。
“I think that was a part of me realizing that, you know, it's nobody but you.” He was young enough to get on a Halifax Transit bus for free, so he rode around the city and hung out at transit terminals. He wandered in parks at night and sat in the parking area of Dartmouth General Hospital.
“我想那让我意识到，你知道，归根结底只能靠自己。” 他当时年龄小到可以免费乘坐哈利法克斯公交，于是他在城市里到处坐车，在公交枢纽闲逛。他在夜晚的公园游荡，也在达特茅斯综合医院的停车场坐着。
“I think that was a part of me realizing that, you know, it's nobody but you.” He was young enough to get on a Halifax Transit bus for free, so he rode around the city and hung out at transit terminals. He wandered in parks at night and sat in the parking area of Dartmouth General Hospital. One time a strange man picked him up in a car and returned him to the group home. In retrospect Balzan said that was a risky situation for a young child.
有一次，一个陌生男子开车把他送回了寄养家庭。事后巴尔赞表示，那对一个年幼的孩子来说是个充满风险的处境。
“I was just everywhere, just like on the streets,” he said. “But in my mind at that time, it was safer for me instead of being at the group home.” Balzan said he continued running away from every other group home he was later placed in.
“我到处乱跑，就像在街头流浪，”他说。“但在我当时的想法里，这比待在寄养家庭要安全。” 巴尔赞表示，后来他被安置的其他每一个寄养家庭，他都继续离家出走。
“I was just everywhere, just like on the streets,” he said. “But in my mind at that time, it was safer for me instead of being at the group home.” Balzan said he continued running away from every other group home he was later placed in.
部门深表关切 机会与社会发展部儿童与家庭福祉司执行主任吉尔·巴克豪斯在最近的一次采访中表示，她对失踪儿童的数量“深感担忧”，官员们正试图弄清情况。“我们致力于看清那些报告背后的儿童和青少年，”巴克豪斯说。
Department deeply concerned Jill Barkhouse, executive director of the Department of Opportunities and Social Development’s child and family well-being division, said in a recent interview she is “deeply concerned” about the numbers of missing children, and officials are trying to understand them. “We do work to see the child and youth behind those reports,” Barkhouse said.
该部门会直接联系照护提供者，商讨如何应对每一份报告。她说，孩子的社工也会会见孩子，以弄清他们需要什么，或者如何保障他们的安全。
The department reaches out directly to the care provider about how to respond to each report. The child’s social worker will also meet the child to figure out what they need or how to keep them safe, she said.
巴克豪斯补充说，儿童和青少年曾向该部门表示，生活变故对他们来说很难应对。她说，这往往不是要“逃离”当下的处境，而是更多地想“奔向”熟悉的环境。
Barkhouse added that children and youth have told the department that life changes can be hard for them. She said often it’s less about running away from their present situation and more about “running to” what is familiar.
现行新斯科舍省社会服务政策要求，集体寄养之家的工作人员必须在儿童未经批准擅自离开不超过12小时内，向省政府报告失踪情况。
Current Nova Scotia social services policy requires group home staff to report to the province if a child is missing no longer than 12 hours from the time they are absent without approval.
由省政府决定何时向警方报告儿童失踪，这可能会立即发生，也可能在首次标记为失踪后长达24小时内发生。许多此类报告由哈利法克斯地区警方的风化案件组接收。
The province makes the call on when to report a child’s absence to police, which could happen immediately or up to 24 hours after they are first marked as missing. Many of those reports are received by Halifax Regional Police's vice unit.
“青少年照护机构通常会自动将这些情况作为失踪人口案件上报，因为许多青少年被视为弱势群体，”该组组长吉娜·格雷厄姆警佐在给加拿大广播公司（CBC）的电子邮件中写道。
"Youth care facilities often automatically report these occurrences as missing persons, as many of these youth are considered vulnerable," Sgt. Gena Graham, the leader of the unit, wrote in an email to CBC. Not all cases meet the police definition of a missing person case, though, particularly if the young person is still in contact with the home but refuses to return.
不过，并非所有案件都符合警方对失踪人口案件的定义，特别是当青少年仍与寄养之家保持联系但拒绝返回时。
Graham said in her experience, some youth leave group homes to go back to their hometowns or be with family and friends. She's also aware of cases where youth have left group homes to use alcohol or drugs.
格雷厄姆表示，根据她的经验，一些青少年离开集体寄养之家是为了回老家或与家人朋友团聚。她也了解一些青少年离开集体寄养之家去酗酒或吸毒的案例。
However, she explained the unit doesn't have the authority to detain a youth unless the group home gets a court order.
然而，她解释说，除非集体寄养之家获得法院命令，否则该组无权拘留青少年。
Ashley Coggins-Comeau, now 27, said there were many times in her youth when a court order was issued to police directing them to find her.
现年27岁的阿什利·科金斯-科莫说，她年轻时曾多次遭遇法院向警方发出命令，指示警方寻找她。
When she looks up her name on the internet, she still finds pages of results with media stories and missing person reports from more than a decade ago, some with a photo attached.
当她在网上搜索自己的名字时，至今仍能看到十多年前的媒体报道和失踪人口报告，多达数页，其中一些还附有照片。
"So young," she said of those photos. "Then I thought I was old and I knew everything. Looking at it now as an adult is just like: I was a baby." She estimates staff marked her as “gone without permission” 20 to 30 times.
“太年轻了，”她看着那些照片说。“当时我觉得自己已经长大了，什么都懂。现在作为成年人回头看，简直是：我那时还是个婴儿。”她估计工作人员曾有20到30次将她标记为“未经许可离开”。
Looking back, she thinks she might have made different choices if she'd been able to ask for help and guidance.
回首往事，她认为如果当时能寻求帮助和指导，或许会做出不同的选择。
But she said it was difficult to ask for help and staff often blamed her for leaving, telling her she was "knowingly" putting herself at risk.
但她说，寻求帮助很难，工作人员常因她离开而责怪她，告诉她是在“明知故犯”地让自己陷入危险。
She said she had some “amazing” care workers. But with others, she felt judged and disbelieved, and there was little trust between them. She still feels the impact today.
她说也遇到过一些“很棒”的护理员。但也有人让她感到被评判、不被信任，彼此间缺乏信任。这种影响至今仍在。“因为我的成长经历，我总是难以信任他人，”她说。
“I have an issue with trusting people always because of just growing up the way that I did,” she said. She hopes sharing her story will encourage the public to look closely at the system for children in care, and ask questions about how well it works.
她希望分享自己的故事能促使公众关注寄养儿童制度，质疑其运作是否有效。“我们都值得更好的待遇，希望人们开始倾听，”她说。“他们的社会联系被切断了”科金斯-科莫和巴尔赞都表示，小时候他们觉得成年人不听他们的，能依靠的人寥寥无几，却在系统中不断被转移。
“We all deserve better, and hopefully people start listening,” she said. ‘Their social connections are severed’ Both Coggins-Comeau and Balzan said when they were children, they felt that adults were not listening to them, and they had a limited number of people they could count on while being constantly moved around in the system.
巴尔赞说他没能与成年人建立稳固的关系，常感到被系统里的工作人员“看不起”。
Balzan said he didn’t develop any solid relationships with adults, and said he often felt “looked down on” by the staff working in the system.
巴尔赞的生活缺乏恒定因素。在19岁离开寄养系统前，他经历了六位社工，多次在不同的集体寄养家庭和学校间辗转。科金斯-科莫说，她也在全省各地的集体寄养家庭间来回搬迁。
There weren’t a lot of constants in Balzan’s life. Before aging out of the care system at 19, he went through six social workers and was moved several times between different group homes and schools. Coggins-Comeau said she also bounced between various group homes around the province.
当她听到孩子们在学校和集体寄养家庭间辗转、无法建立纽带的故事时，弗格森将其视为社会联系的“切断”。
When she hears stories of kids being moved between schools and group homes, failing to form bonds, Ferguson sees it as a “severing” of social connections.
犯罪学家说，这很重要，因为与他人的联系——即使是相对肤浅的联系——也能成为减少失踪事件、保护儿童免受伤害的“缓冲”。
That’s important, the criminologist said, because ties to others — even relatively superficial ties — can be the “buffer” that reduces missing incidents and protects children from harm.
“当人们被频繁搬迁、社会联系被切断时，这就是一个风险因素，”她说。
“When people are getting moved around and their social connections are severed, that's a risk factor,” she said.
巴克豪斯说，该部门尽最大努力维护社会联系，信任是“任何关系的关键”。她说，该部门试图通过支持集体寄养家庭和其他照护者采用“创伤知情实践”，给孩子们提供稳定性；当变动发生时，社工会制定计划以平稳过渡。
Barkhouse said the department does its best to preserve social connections, and that trust is “key to any relationship.” She said the department tries to give children stability through supporting group homes and other caregivers to use “trauma-informed practices,” and when change happens, social workers make plans to smooth the transition.
“我们尽最大努力防止这些事情发生，但不幸的是，这对一些人来说是现实，”她说。
“We do our best to prevent those things from happening and unfortunately it is a reality for some,” she said.
“在很多方面，我们都在努力将孩子们经历的损失降到最低。” 攻击性、悲伤与愤怒 巴尔赞觉得他现在的生活状态不错。但他相信，照护系统未能帮助他，反而加重了他的心理健康问题。他对在第一个集体寄养家庭欺凌他的大龄青年有了不同的看法。
“In many ways, we are trying to keep the losses that children experience to a minimum.” Aggression, sadness and anger Balzan feels he’s in a good place in his life now. But he believes the system for children in care failed to help him and worsened his mental health. He thinks differently about the older youths who bullied him in his first group home.
他确信他们也在应对过去的创伤：“他们的攻击性、他们的悲伤、他们根深蒂固的愤怒，”他说。
He is certain they, too, were dealing with past trauma: “Their aggression, their sadness, their very deep-rooted anger,” he said.
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