The CBC story this morning. “No foul play in B.C. foster child's death.”
Earlier story on the Port Alberni child's death.
My sympathy to both the biological and foster parents in this tragic case.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
12 comments:
I encourage your comments using this filter.
1. Write politely with a sincere statement, valid question, justifiable comment.
2. Engage with the blog post or a previous comment whether you agree or disagree.
3. Avoid hate, profanity, name calling, character attack, slander and threats, particularly when using specific names.
4. Do not advertise
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The timeline sounds quite reasonable, given the original trial started back in January and was only supposed to last three weeks.
ReplyDelete- Transcripts usually take a week, and sometimes two, depending on how busy the transcription service in Chilliwack is.
- Doug Christie might well need more than a week if he needs to respond and research Finn Jensen's legal argument, since Doug is not an expert on CFCSA law. I recall Finn Jensen's rebuttal of Christie's submission when the Bayne's were trying to get more access, and he spent some time educating the judge on CFCSA, his limitations, and the threat of appeal.
I would like to see a posting of all available transcripts and the judge's ruling. This would a great reference that would be valuable for similar cases.
I would expect the ruling to be something exceeding fifty pages.
This decision in particular will be a considerable amount of work for this judge, and given his current responsibilities, he may need a month, possibly two to write this.
I would hope the judge would be going through the evidence as we speak to cut down his response time.
The concern I would have as this drags on is the stress this lack of closure now presents on Paul and Zabeth with the new baby.
There will likely be press. I can't imagine CBC not covering the story in more detail than they have in the past. The birth of the Baynes new baby will also be news. There will likely be many updates on the Bayne's facebook page and website!
the CBC link above isn't working.
ReplyDeleteThe first link on the follow-up story is broken. Both stories are surprisingly short, as if the police press release was run verbatim by CBC.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been a slow news day as CHEK news ran a video, and it is linked from here: http://www.pa-pa.ca/Williams.html.
From the video, what catches my eye is the native parents of three other children that still live in the same home (ages 4, 2 and 1) appear rather blasé about the fact their children are in care.
That is quite a handful of young children in one home. It would seem there is another story just waiting to be told.
I would expect the coroner to reveal the cause rather quickly compared with the Chris Martell case because there seems to be no suspicious circumstances.
Link has been fixed
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the corruption of Child Protective Services and the Foster "Care," scam, people might be interested in the latest:
ReplyDelete--------------
Calgary mother in court with U.S. state over foster care expenses
By Daryl Slade, Postmedia News September 12, 2010 11:02 PM
CALGARY — A Calgary mother is poised to face off on Tuesday against the Oregon government, which she says has sued her for two years of foster care and medical expenses incurred after the state’s child welfare authorities apprehended her 10-year-old son while he was on a summer vacation.
Lisa Kirkman, who finally had her son, now 12, returned to her on June 11, says she has had no help from the Canadian government and anticipates Alberta government lawyers will fight her in provincial court on behalf of the state of Oregon.
“They forced my family into their broken system. I am angry at not only the state of Oregon, but at our own federal government. They abandoned the whole process,” a bitter Kirkman said of the state on Sunday, as she and her lawyers prepared to plot their strategy for what she expects to be a lengthy legal battle.
“Now, it’s like I rescued my son from his kidnappers and now they’re suing me and asking me to pay the ransom.”
(article is continued - see webpage link)
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Calgary+mother+court+with+state+over+foster+care+expenses/3514711/story.html#ixzz0zNZs1l40
Here is a bit longer story with more meat in it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vancouversun.com/health/RCMP+probes+death+baby+foster+care/3504441/story.html
I believe Ray Ferris commented earlier about baby Sherry Charlie, who was also from Port Alberni.
The end of the story states:
"Over the past decade, the ministry has faced criticism over deaths of children in foster care and in how deaths are investigated.
Port Alberni was the location of the 2002 death of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie, who was killed while in the care of her great-aunt. The aunt's spouse later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
A later review found B.C.'s Liberal government had weakened public oversight of the child welfare system."
Another interesting comment is made by a Ministry spokesman who says the parents can release more information if they wish (if MCFD were to release the name of the parent, that is), otherwise the Ministry won't comment. CHEK identifies friends of the family rather than the parents themselves. I supposed in a small community of under 30,000 people it is hard for families not to know each other.
There are some interesting stats on Port Alberni (1996 census, with 2006 updates) is it is a poor community with high unemployment (14%) with high reliance on forestry for employment. The houses are very low in cost, about $130,000 each. There is also a lower graduation level here. It has one of the highest crime rates (property crime) of all small communities (25% vs 15-16% average). This suggests a fertile hunting ground for MCFD child removal activities.
It is interesting that while MCFD is keeping quiet, the parents of the other three children are suggesting a random sudden infant death syndrome (ie SIDS with no fault - the ideal explanation for MCFD). I note the new term for this is now Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy. The wikipedia page on this makes for interesting reading.
I am curious to know why the child was in care in the first place, pre-existing medical issues, how long in care, the removal circumstances, whether there was a pending CCO, the reason the other three children were in care, and if any of them had behavioural problems or medical issues.
If a case like this was in the U.K., you would find proponents of video surveillance using a case such as this to argue for placing remote-access nanny-cams in foster care homes. Social workers could then manage a greater number of families, reducing the need for large numbers of social workers.
This begs the question, why is the CBC version of the story is so short compared to other news organizations.
The theory is, the Canadian system can also hit up parents for child maintenance to offset foster care costs once their children have been declared in need of protection.
ReplyDeleteI asked a number of times about this, but did not get an answer from lawyers, and social workers stated they just don't go after parents, without explaining why not. If I'm not mistaken, there is provision in the CFCSA to collect money from parents, and use the Family Maintenance Enforcement Program to do it.
Perhaps the question would be, why is the Canadian system not doing what the U.S. system is?
Greetings 10:37 PM Sunday
ReplyDeleteVancouver Sun ran another more recent piece longer than the CBC as well...
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Port+Alberni+RCMP+investigating+death+baby+foster+care/3500690/story.html
Hi 2 AM Sun
ReplyDeleteRe: Foster Care Costs ... in begging the question of why the Can system has not copied the US system, did you have an opinion about this possibility?
Good Day 9:10 PM Sun
ReplyDeleteI wish we knew more of the story of the child seizure by Oregon authorities two years ago before I challenge myself to be sympathetic over this one.
Anon at September 13, 2010 2:00 AM:
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Canada should go after parents for foster housing costs? If so, what about all the parents who have wrongfully had their children removed (like the Baynes)? Will the government then reimburse those parents, once they are found "not guilty?" (if there is in fact ever such a finding with child protection).
I have to say that I completely agree with Lisa Kirkman, when she states:
“Now, it’s like I rescued my son from his kidnappers and now they’re suing me and asking me to pay the ransom.”
No kidding.
This is about control (the state getting to control our children), but it's also about money. The corrupt, broke governments of the world are using their citizens to, once again, bail them out. The same citizens they have lied to and robbed for so long. Governments are desperate for money, and they will therefore embrace these kind of tactics.
Foster Mom from Calgary and the Oregon Foster Care and Medical Invoices...
ReplyDeleteThere is always more to the story. That's true here. A full account from this online site. http://www.endprohibition.ca/group/endprohibition/unhappy-mothers-day-calgary-mom-child-held-oregon-foster-system
Further explanation includes these facts: Noah Kirkman, then 10 yrs old was doing a summer visit with his stepfather in Oregon when police stopped him several times for riding his bike without a helmet and playing in areas he shouldn't have been. A simple reprimand was not enough because their questions led to concerns about Noah being with the stepfather, since he was not considered a legal guardian and in spite of the fact that Lisa had sent Noah with a written note authorizing her husband to care for him and included copies of her passport and their marriage licence. Then they learned that Noah had social services files in Canada including in British Columbia. These files were to facilitate the boy with with special needs including severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to receive special mental health programs. Furthermore, Kirkman herself has edited marijuana-related magazines and has a criminal record for growing medical marijuana for her husband. Her sentence for her conviction was 10 hours of community service. That concerned U.S. justice officials. The boy spent more than 20 months shuffling between several foster homes in Oregon. Lisa Kirkman fought for two years to have her son returned to her. Lane County Circuit Court Judge Kip Leonard ruled to allow the boy to return to Canada and was confident in that legal decision but not so confident about his social decision because he was not sure it was in Noah's best interest. In June 2010 that was realized. Officials waited until the school year was finished. Then in August she received notice that Oregon was suing her for the foster care and medical expenses incurred over the two years citing the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act.
Lisa has a seven year old daughter as well. They are together now and enjoy a large supportive, extended family.