Butterflies in the System

Butterflies in the System is a story about love, incarceration, and perseverance. Inspired by true events, it follows a year in the life of five teenagers as they struggle through the youth protection system in Montreal. Through the halls of a group home, into lockdown within a youth detention centre, and onto the streets, Sam and her peers navigate through a world kept hidden from the public eye. Their future in the hands of judges, social workers, and childcare workers, the teens learn the value in empathy and friendship.

Jane Powell is an alumna of Ville Marie Social Services and Youth Horizons (now Batshaw Youth and Family Centres) in Montreal, Canada. She wrote this story to raise awareness of the challenge teens face while in youth protection, where they are subjected to variable and often unethical care.