Cathy Evarts and her husband Wade reside in Alberta. Cathy wrote to me some time ago, attaching to her note a copy of a lengthy and impassioned letter that she wrote to Honourable Yvonne Fritz, Minister of Children and Youth Services in Alberta.
Cathy wrote to me because she had spotted the online Bayne saga, and although her story is different she thought it might be of interest. Cathy and Wade have been foster parents, fostering children with family connections to the Buffalo Lake Settlement and the Wades’ experiences and observations developed a deep conviction that the system in that province must change. They became convinced in a short time that “the Government of Alberta Children and Youth Services, together with the Child & Family Services Authorities and Delegated First Nations Agencies is failing to provide adequate care to children in foster care or their families. High caseloads, insufficient caseworker training and compensation, a combination of unstable and ineffective agency management, and a lack of resources plague the foster care systems.” The Evarts resigned.
“We were shocked and ashamed of the mistreatment that we endured and witnessed of the children and their families in care by the Government of Alberta Children and Youth services. We are no longer proud to say that we were a Métis foster family. The children in care, their families and foster families are not just numbers, not animals; they are humans who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Foster families, foster children and their families are getting lost within the system that was developed to support and protect them.”So the concerns about the systems of child welfare, child protection and foster care are apparent in every region of our country. Federal and Provincial Governments must give this greater attention and determine to bring solution to the weaknesses that are failing the lives of children and families.
“We didn’t witness any family healing within the system during our eighteen months as caregivers. “The use of judgment and punishment actually works against the healing process.”
“We think it is undeniable that children who reach permanent placement earlier in their lives are significantly better than those who have a more extended stay in foster care. We think it is clear that the foster care system has continually failed to protect and improve the lives of our most vulnerable citizens. Our government needs to invest more into programs and initiatives aimed at helping to speed up children's exit from foster care.”
“We believe that changes to the foster care system need to start by the Government of Alberta Children and Youth Services, together with the Child & Family Services Authorities and Delegated First Nations Agencies taking accountability and learning from the mistakes made, not ignoring them.”
Too bad!! Their Canadians beat our Swedes. In Stockholm I was told that the Swedes are cheering for the Canucks because of the Sedin twins.
ReplyDeleteIf only the Canadian public could get as serious about child welfare concerns as they do about hockey.
I would just like to make a couple of comments today. First I must admit that my experiences of judges during my career were for the most part positive. Judges who regularly sat in family court protected the rights of children and parents and made the social workers accountable. They made sure that the law was followed in spirit and letter. I was concerned that the judge was allowing the Bayne case to drag on, but I believed that he would eventually rule on the evidence and that the court would severely admonish the director for his adversarial behaviour to the Baynes. When he chickened out of doing his job, I was far more disappointed than any Canuck fan. Disappointed; not just because I believed it vital that the family be restored, but disappointed because what should have been a staunch safeguard for the best interests of the childrn proved to be fragile and flawed.
What can be done and what are the answers? No simple or quick solutions. No quick fixes, as Gove and Hughes should have known. It seems to me that the whole body politic needs to recognise that by turning family court into a relentlessly adversarial system, we are not serving the interests of children. We are shattering their interests. We must dispel the myths about social work, psychology and the protection of the court. As long as directors wield unlimited power and as long as the staff are untrained and arrogant they will have no incentive to change. Judges take far too much on trust and are far too ready to go along. Good, well-trained professional staff who have clear ethical concepts do not need to depend on lawyers and psychologists to do their job for them.
Those with the power need to build in some safeguards and try to settle matters without going into the court arena. Mediation should be taken out of the act and made a matter of practice. Contract counsels should act for all parents. Directors should be made more accountable. Formal contested hearings should only take place in extreme cases.
Just one case like the Baynes should convince lawmakers that something must be done. Yes, the Baynes will eventually get the children back, but at what cost to the children, the parents and to society? What was the cost to some of the ministry staff who must have been as horrified as anyone else at what was happening?
It will not be good enough for the director to claim that the court vindicated him. That does not lessen the damage. It will not be good enough for the child advocate and the minister to say that they cannot comment on matters before the court. What are they prepared to do to stop this type of damage from recurring?
Foster parents almost always seem to be in favour of quick permanent placements (which entails the severance of parental rights). This might sound good in theory, but if it were actually implemented, it means that people such as the Baynes would have no hope. Their children would be put up for adoption right away, and there would be no chance, ever, of getting them back.
ReplyDeleteAlberta has learned nothing since the highly publicized death of an infant in care last year. A new case published this month with the mother unable to speak out under threat of jail time. Who exactly is the publication ban protecting? Certainly not the child or the mother.
ReplyDeletehttp://ca.news.yahoo.com/mother-baby-died-foster-care-goes-public-internet-213127318.html