Tuesday, June 18, 2013

LISTEN TO RAY FERRIS - SCRAP THE CHILD, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES ACT

Ray Ferris is my friend. He lives in Victoria so our opportunities for personal contact are few. Our interaction and friendship has been conducted largely online and by phone. We found one another when we were advocating for the return of Paul and Zabeth Bayne's children. That process took over four years to realize a satisfactory outcome. Ray is in his early 80's, is active, alert, articulate and altruistic to the core. He had a career in what is now the Ministry of Children and Family Development, precisely that ministry whose conduct of cases he now finds frequently appalling.

Here in this snatch of prose, he is expressing himself about what has transpired over the past several decades in the care of children by government authorized agencies in British Columbia, Canada.

How would I change the Child Family and Community Services Act? (F&CSA) I would simply scrap it and bring back the old act which it replaced. The new act simply created a whole lot of problems which did not exist before. A member of a parent self help group told the Gove inquiry about the proposed act “ I urge Judge Gove to oppose the passing of the new act. There’s just too many weasel words in it for my liking and you don’t want to give the social workers new ways to screw people.” I could not have put it better myself. I predicted a disaster and I was told I was being negative. A year later the courts had been ground to a standstill because of the act and they have never recovered. It would be very difficult to persuade people to scrap the act all together, because all the people who have championed it over the years would look rather silly. So one would just have to go about removing or changing the worst sections. 
A lot of stuff simply does not belong in legislation. For instance mediation should simply be part of good professional practice. Currently mediation just becomes part of the adversarial process and the ministry directors have all the power. The mediation clause is allowed to derail all the time lines of the act and other important guidelines. It is like trying to mediate between the wolf and the lamb. Look at Derek and his wife. By agreeing to mediation they have consented to a gag order and cannot talk about anything or ask for help because of it. If they did, the social workers would use it against them. The act limits total temporary orders on young children to a period of one year. This is to protect against emotional damage, which is well researched. Interim custody can go on for years as anyone who has followed Ron Unruh’s blog knows. The damage is the same. I would ban any type of temporary care from going over one year. If the kids are to go home, the sooner the better. If the parents are totally unfit and this can be proved, then a permanent plan for the kids should be worked out as soon as possible. This is just for starters.

2 comments:

  1. It has been my experience dealing with the Ministry for children and families that the Child Family and Community services act protects children but it leaves parents such as my self in vulnerable to abuse or discrimination against the law for example;

    In British Columbia women for generations have been struggling to achieve equality before the law. Women fleeing from violence turn to the legal system for assistance which is failing to protect them. Women and their children are being used as profit and loosing their children to the Ministry for children and Family development instead of getting the support they need they are being punished when they are really the victims. More over women are being denied their life, liberty, and what's rightfully theirs, their freedom! The government, is trafficking women being sold by the legal system and their children used as profit. Women are powerless to the system fleeing from violence the outcome is they are forced to suffer further abuse. I know I was one of those women I was a victim of violence and the response of the Ministry for children and family development was to remove my child from my care due to the fact that I was residing in a transition house and forced me to adopt because the trauma or post traumatic stress, I suffered from the violence would impair my ability to parent and my child would be at risk in my care. We need to raise our voices women should be empowering women I thought I was alone suffering abuse by the government but I realized I wasn't their are other women like me who suffered the abuse to! We need to raise our voices for our daughters, for our sisters, and granddaughters and tell the government we aren't for sale! either our we! Women it is never to late to take back your power fight for our sisters and for feature generations all nations of women no should suffer abuse or be deprived because of the government.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Part II

    In BC, The Child family community services Act provides the legal authority for child protection services. The CFCSA clearly articulates that the safety and well-being of children are the paramount considerations in interpreting and administering the CFSCA and that children are entitled to be protected from abuse, neglect and harm or threat of harm but does not protect women from harm women and protecting women fleeing from violence instead they are being discriminated against because we are victims of violence. Women and children and families are being torn apart and when you do have access to your children you suffer further abuse by social workers and like Derek Hoare and Paul and Zabeth Baynes if some one makes a vindictive child protection concerns you are powerless and social workers are just as vindictive in their conduct. I had my child removed because I was residing in a transition house fleeing from violence instead of getting any support I was forced to give up my child for adoption. The courts are bias they always side with the Ministry for children and family development and when I was forced to give up my child for adoption there is nothing you can do it was due to the fact that the Ministry for children and family development accused me of cancelling to many visits during the same time I was fleeing from violence.

    I provided police reports a restraining order, and the Ministry for children and family development did nothing. I would think I would get a different response from the judge but he said due to the fact I was a victim of violence It would continue to impair my ability to parent. I believe this is wrong women are being discriminated against by the law which is supposed to protect them is failing to!

    When your child is is in care your only allowed
    1 visits once per week because as soon as your child is in care they are on the adoption list for the bonus MCFD for adoption and want to cease bonding between child and parent.

    When your child is in care you don't get to practice your religion they don't allow you to have supervised visits in church which would be appropriate.

    Social workers are vindictive and parents are vulnerable especially who have mental or physical disabilities and instead of getting support you have your child removed.

    Paul and Zabeth Baynes spent four years in court
    and the child protection concerns were false against them what can a parent do?

    Derek Hoare the Ministry for children and family development said he just wasn't capable of looking after his children who have disabilities but see he is just doing fine and working to but they wont return Ayn?

    End discrimination against parents and their children No more silence!

    ReplyDelete

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