The B.C. Ministry of Children is in
the news almost every day. The items are invariably unpleasant. Two more
headline stories this week, indications of a systemic limitation - control and
accountability. It's not Stephanie Cadieux's fault. The Honourable Minister is
an honourable woman. She cannot be responsible for what social workers and
their supervisors decide and effect. Ministers change yet the negative press
repeats year after year. Protection of children and care for vulnerable
children is undeniably difficult and problematic. Before she is moved on, she
and her office must genuinely dialogue with Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond,
Representative for Children and Youth and official watchdog over the Ministry
of Children, and address jointly constructed plans, policies and action steps
to transform this Ministry. The window of opportunity may be small since
Turpel-Lafond's 10-year term is finishing.
So here are the two newsmaker
articles this week.
First, the case of J.P., mother of
four children who sought help from the Ministry, alleging to them that B.G.,
the children's father sexually abused them. Workers chose not to believe her
but questioned her mental health and granted B.G. unsupervised access to the
children. In court cases in 2009, 2012 and 2015, Justice Paul Walker ruled
dramatically that B.G. had sexually and physically abused his children,
castigated the Ministry. Then when P.J. sued the Ministry Judge Walker ruled in
her favour. Consequently she was about to win the Powerball of case awards. But
of course the B.C. government and the Ministry have appealed to the B.C. Court
of Appeal to dismiss this civil action. That's what we heard this week.
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| Alex Gervais |
Second, the case of 18-year-old
foster child Alex Gervais, housed by the Ministry in a hotel for 49 days, and
who fell to his death from a hotel window. Immediately following that September
2015 tragedy, the Ministry commented that Alex
was the only foster child housed in a hotel. Two days later it reported that
Alex was one of two placed in hotels. One day later, the ministry said there
were 23 children in hotels. Today came the staggering report issued jointly by
Minister Stephanie Cadieux and Representative of Children and Youth Mary Ellen
Turpel-Lafond, revealing that during a 12-month period, the government placed
117 children in hotels rather than in foster or group homes. None of us on this
end of these stories understand the pressures and shortages of resources that caseworkers
experience. I am speaking to the evasiveness and the smoke screening, the
slippery MCFD excuses.
This Ministry
starting from the Premier's office and the Minister's office all the way down
the chain must determine a new course. Perhaps placing a ceiling on how much
money can be directed to legal action and lawyers; coffers, and redirecting
most of that money to adequate housing options for foster children and
retraining and empowering workers. If you can think of other ways such
reclaimed money could be spent, I'd like to hear it.
https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2015/2015bcca480/2015bcca480.html?resultIndex=5
ReplyDeletehttps://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2015/2015bcca481/2015bcca481.html?resultIndex=4
Here are the links of the appeals fyi.
My appreciation for these two file references as helpful resources to us as we seek to understand the case and its numerous tributary concerns. Thanks.
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