对于圣约翰斯的一位年轻女性来说，对21岁生日的期待毫无兴奋可言。“相当可怕，”她在最近的一次采访中说。
For a young woman in St. John’s, the anticipation of her 21st birthday was anything but exciting. “It’s quite terrifying,” she said in a recent interview.
“不知道自己将做什么……未来会怎样，真的很可怕，我想。没有什么是有保障的。”考虑到她作为寄养青少年的经历比较敏感，这位年轻女性接受CBC新闻采访时要求匿名。
“It’s really scary not knowing what you’re going to do … what the future holds, I guess. Nothing is guaranteed.”The young woman spoke with CBC News on the condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of her experience as a youth in care.
她说，除了生日前两个月与收入支持部门的一次预先安排的会面外，没有任何计划来帮助她为“超龄离管”做准备——那时她与省政府签署的自愿青年服务协议即将到期。
Aside from a pre-arranged meeting with income support two months before her birthday, she said there was no plan to prepare her for aging out of care — when her voluntary youth services agreement with the province was set to expire.
“我完全感觉没有准备好。我过得非常艰难，甚至在精神上也造成了很大打击。我没准备好面对这一切，”她说。
“I didn't feel prepared whatsoever. I was having a really hard time, even mentally it was taking a toll on me. I wasn’t ready for it,” she said.
在纽芬兰与拉布拉多省，16至17岁需要保护性照护的青少年可以与省政府签署个性化的青年服务计划。
In Newfoundland and Labrador, youth who are in need of protective care between the ages of 16 and 17 can sign on with the province for an individualized youth services plan.
在该省，青年在21岁生日时将失去经济和社会支持的资格。这是全国最低的年龄限制之一。不过，省政府表示存在例外情况。
In this province, youth lose access to their financial and social support on their 21st birthday. It’s one of the youngest age limits in the country. However, the province says there are exceptions.
适应体制外生活充满挑战“我觉得这让很多年轻人被抛在了身后，”圣约翰斯非营利组织Thrive的教育项目负责人谢尔比·阿诺德说。
Adjusting out of system can be challenging“I think it’s leaving a lot of young people behind,” said Shelby Arnold, educational program lead with Thrive, a non-profit organization in St. John’s.
阿诺德表示，社工繁重的工作量限制了他们与青年一对一相处的时间，而从集体照护——日常选择可能被规定——到突然获得自主权的转变可能会让人难以适应。“通常情况下，社工一个月只能见他们一次，”阿诺德说。
Heavy workloads on social workers limit one-on-one time with youth and the adjustment from group care — where daily choices can be dictated — to sudden autonomy can be jarring, Arnold said. “Often [social workers are] seeing people once a month,” Arnold said.
“社工没有精力去做这项工作，尽管他们本该是做这项工作的合适人选。”阿诺德说，像Thrive这样的组织试图填补这一空白，但非营利组织并非万能药。
“Social workers don't have the capacity, even though they would be in the right position to do that work.”Organizations like Thrive try to fill that gap, Arnold said, but non-profits are not a catch-all.
麦迪逊·普里蒂在西蒙菲莎大学攻读公共政策硕士学位期间，研究了该省的青年服务计划。
Madison Pretty examined the province’s youth services program while completing her master's degree in public policy at Simon Fraser University.
普雷蒂与那些脱离儿童保护体系的青少年、社会工作者以及专门为青少年提供服务的非营利组织进行了深入交谈。
Pretty spoke with youth who left the system, social workers and non-profit organizations that work with young people first hand.
“我们发现，政策手册和法律法规中的规定，与实际执行情况存在很大差距，”普雷蒂在最近的一次采访中说道。
“What we found was that what's in the policy manual, what's in the legislation, is not what's happening in practice,” Pretty said in a recent interview.
“与我交谈过的青少年都表示，他们感觉根本不存在所谓的‘过渡期’。” 对于身处儿童保护体系中的青少年而言，他们所能获得的经济与社会援助因省份而异。例如，新斯科舍省政府最近将相关年龄上限提高到了26岁。不过批评者认为这一举措仍远远不够。
“The young people that I spoke to really described not feeling like there was any really kind of transition.”Financial and social supports vary for youth who are in the child protection system depending on the province. In Nova Scotia, for example, the government recently raised the age limit to 26. However, critics argue even that doesn’t go far enough.
“纽芬兰与拉布拉多省在这方面远远落后，”普雷蒂指出，“我们与另一个省份并列，拥有全国最低的年龄上限。”
“Newfoundland and Labrador is lagging quite behind,” Pretty said. “We're tied with one other province for having the youngest cutoff age.”
普雷蒂建议该省提高这一年龄限制，好让青少年有时间提升自身能力，而不必担忧“即将到来的年龄门槛”。她还指出，该省也是全国少数几个没有强制实施过渡期规划、以帮助青少年为独立生活做好准备的省份之一。
Pretty recommends the province extend the age mandate to give youth time to build skills without dreading a "looming birthday care cliff." She added it’s also one of the only provinces without mandatory transition planning, to prepare youth for independent adulthood.
Thrive组织的教育推广专员丹尼尔·赫普迪奇表示，现状亟需改善。
Daniel Hepditch, an education outreach worker at Thrive, said things need to improve.
“即便不提高年龄上限，也至少应优化过渡流程并逐步实施相关措施，”赫普迪奇说道。
“If not raise the age, adjust the transition process and the phasing,” Hepditch said.
“我认为我们省必须采取行动，为这些青少年创造更好的条件。”不过，赫普迪奇与阿诺德也提醒说，强制实施过渡期规划需谨慎行事；他们强调，社会工作者应当具备灵活应变的能力，以符合每位青少年的自身节奏来提供帮助。
“I think that our province needs to do something to make this better for our young people.”However, Hepditch and Arnold caution about the use of mandatory transition planning, empathizing with the importance of social workers being prepared to adapt to changes and approaching youth at their own pace.
过渡期缺失：纽芬兰与拉布拉多省是加拿大对脱离儿童保护体系的青少年设定年龄上限最低的省份。根据参议院委员会去年12月发布的一份报告，规划与准备不足的后果可能十分严重。
Abrupt independence: Newfoundland and Labrador has one of the lowest cutoff ages in Canada for youth leaving system The consequences of poor planning and preparation can be stark, according to a report released by a Senate committee in December.
这份报告对加拿大的儿童保护体系以及青少年步入成年阶段时所获支持的严重匮乏作出了严厉批评。
The report offered a stinging assessment of the country’s child protection systems and the lack of support for youth transitioning into adulthood.
独立参议员玛丽·科伊尔去年冬天告诉加拿大广播公司新闻频道，这个体系往往沦为一条“从儿童福利到监狱的输送管道”。“当年轻人脱离监护体系后，他们会去哪儿？他们如何养活自己？如何安身立命？又会和什么样的人交往？”科伊尔说道。
Independent Senator Mary Coyle told CBC News last winter that far too often the system acts as a “child welfare to prison pipeline.”“When young people age out of care, where do they go? How do they feed themselves? How do they house themselves? Who do they associate with?”Coyle said.
“如果一个人没有全面的健康支持体系，他们就会去寻求其他某种体系来维持生计。”在Thrive组织，阿诺德和赫普迪奇与年轻人合作，帮助他们改善教育状况。尽管年轻人面临诸多挑战，他们仍然看到了许多成功的故事。
“If there isn't a wrap-around healthy support system for that person, they're going to seek out a system somewhere to get by.”At Thrive, Arnold and Hepditch work with youth to improve their education. They see the success stories, in spite of the challenges handed to young people.
“我们看到了他们的潜力，也看到了人们和关怀体系所具备的所有美好天赋与力量，”阿诺德说。
“We see the capacity and we see all the wonderful gifts and strengths that people and care have,” Arnold said.
“因此，他们并不是需要被解决的问题，而是正努力迈向人生下一阶段的人。我们所有人都可以做得再好一点，确保他们拥有所需的一切。”社会支持与福祉部部长克里斯·蒂布斯未能接受采访。
“And so, they're not a problem to fix. They're people who are trying to step into the next phase of their life and we all can do a little bit better to make sure that they have what they need.”Minister of Social Supports and Well-being Chris Tibbs was not made available for an interview.