(File photo/650 CKOM)

By CKOM News Staff

App launched to reduce number of youths reported missing from care

Jan 24, 2023 | 12:04 PM

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 youth workers through the process of making a missing person report, and allows them to share the young person’s information with local police “with the click of a button.”

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

“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.”

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Meikle said the new app builds on EGADZ’s 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.

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.

Randy Huisman, deputy chief of the Saskatoon Police Service, said close relationships between police and organizations like EGADZ are very important.

“The Saskatoon Police Service has had a long and successful partnership with EGADZ in our joint efforts to address the needs of youth at risk,” Huisman said in a statement.

“We look forward to the digital expansion of the Operation Runaway program and the opportunity to build additional working relationships with other youth care homes.”