Sunday, November 27, 2016

I SAW THE TEARS OF THE OPPRESSED

Ecclesiastes 4:1 says, "I saw the tears of the oppressed -  and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors - and they have no comforter.

Paul and Zabeth Bayne are friends of mine, Christians, at home with their three children, two small boys and a 7-week old daughter and that was when their odyssey of horror began. It was the autumn of 2007. Two small boys chasing one another in the house and the toddler fell on the infant girl who lay on a blanket on the living room floor as mom and dad did supper tasks. In the following hours the baby lost her appetite and slept a lot so the parents took her to the hospital. After a couple of days of examination, the clinical default diagnosis for her triad of symptoms was 'shaken baby.' The term itself has intimations. Authorities did not believe the parents story of a mishap. Reports between medical personnel, and police, and child protection agency workers resulted in all three children being removed from them even though there were no criminal charges against the parents. "I saw the tears of the oppressed." The Baynes' efforts to recover their family cost them the mom's grand piano (she a concert pianist), and cost them their home. They began working night shifts to be available for all the daytime visits and court appearances. One year, two years, three years passed. The Baynes had an army of supporters and advocates. A former child protection social worker critical of some Ministry mistakes advised the Baynes' lawyer Doug Christie, who donated his time and admirably argued their case. Nevertheless, during the fourth year, a fourth child was born to them and within hours that child was also removed from them. "I saw the tears of the oppressed." They waited and prayed and worked for four years before they heard a judge's order to return the four children to them (August 2011). That was an astounding and unforgettable day. Today they are a happy family living far from the trauma of those years. And the children are thriving and growing taller and older and smarter and loving. 

I wrote this today, because I remember. For those years, Zabeth and I were in almost daily contact as I wrote blogs in our concerted campaign to make the public aware.  News networks and newspapers and finally CBC the Fifth Estate picked up their ongoing story.




6 comments:

  1. Thank you for writing this,"I SAW THE TEARS OF THE OPPRESSED".

    And now, Tears of the Oppressed has now been transmogrified,
    into Tears of Joy

    Many drops, a Cup
    Many cups, a Torrent

    ... can now open our eyes, and 'let your heart beat again'

    and let it be ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. This story is a rare example of a victory against the BC MCFD child protection system. A hard won battle that included skilled lawyer Doug Christie, retired social worker and staunch critic of MCFD Ray Ferris and author of the book The Art of Child Protection, months and years of excellent blogs by Dr. Ron Unruh, plus dozens of other supporters, incredible fund raising efforts, plenty of mainstream news publicity from CBC, Global news coverage, all of whom were outraged at the injustice.

    On negative side of the plate, this family faced a tenacious, costly and experienced pitt bull MCFD lawyer Finn Jensen Q.C., equally tenacious and vindictive social workers (one social worker Loren Humeny has since (yay!) died of prostate cancer), MCFD-groomed witnesses such as husband and wife Hope B.C. church pastors Michael Hoffman and his wife Elizabeth who accused the Baynes of having Munchausens syndrome, an internationally renowned shaken baby "expert" Dr. Randell Alexander that was flown at extraordinary taxpayer expense into the tiny Chilliwack BC courthouse to bolster MCFD's weak case, 30 days of trial, the removal of their forth newborn child during the multi-month wait for th ruling after the protection trial ... the list goes on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Papa ... much belated appreciation but sincere nevertheless.

      Delete
  3. More diversion & blame shifting, shifting blame from 'Designers' of the bizarre Government system to 'outside agencies':

    VancouverSun Feb/8/2017: Page1 & 6:
    "BC began contracting out residential services for kids (a.k.a. alt-foster type 'care') in the mid-1980's ... There are currently 699 children in 93 contracted residential agencies. The government spent $132 Million on contracting child welfare services in 2015/2016. Costs per child have risen 10% in the past three years".
    "...many are upset at a system in which the Representative report said children are treated like a business" "That word just caught me right off guard to consider our children in care are being considered business..." said an attendee of a related conference.
    "... It's a very hard ministry to run." "... what previous governments have done ...I think it has been a recipe for chaos in the Ministry(of Children&Family)" admits a high-level government official.

    Do the Math: 699 children in care with 93 contracted residential agencies and how much did government spend last year on contracting out child welfare services? Again, $132M, which is !0% more than the year before. That's a cost of $132M/699 children = $188,841.21 avg per child last year.
    How would you like to have a business income that generates nearly $189,000 per 'client' per year?! (hint: need to be an insider though maybe?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you writing and for your observations Pater

      Delete
  4. RE:
    Do the Math: 699 children in care with 93 contracted residential agencies and how much did government spend last year on contracting out child welfare services? Again, $132M, which is !0% more than the year before. That's a cost of $132M/699 children = $188,841.21 avg per child last year.
    How would you like to have a business income that generates nearly $189,000 per 'client' per year?! (hint: need to be an insider though maybe?)
    _________________________________________________________________________
    ie. an insider: perhaps part of, or connected to, the 'perennial' Administrative Bureaucracy or the 'seasonal' Political Hierarchy, or more ... ? Hmm...

    ReplyDelete

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