WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is taking steps to reduce the number of children in care housed in hotels.
Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross says the province is creating 71 new emergency foster home spots.
She says it's part of an overhaul of the emergency placement program.
She also says the province plans to reduce its reliance on contract workers by hiring just over 200 permanent child-care workers over two years.
The province's goal is to eliminate the use of hotels for children who are taken into care.
Manitoba has been criticized by its own children's advocate for over a decade for using hotel rooms to house children taken into government care.