RESOLVING SYSTEMIC AND NON SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS IN CHILD SERVICES, Part 3

SPECIFIC CASES

by Ray Ferris, (This piece is one of a series Ray will write here. )

            I think perhaps that the best way to illustrate some of the problems in the protection services is to look at some specific cases in which the practice inside and outside the courts has wandered far away from what was intended by the members of the legislative assembly when they enacted the Child, Family and Community Services Act or CF&CSA.

            Our current system is based on the clauses of the CF&CSA. This act, for all its flaws, does have some good principles. Some are set out as guidelines and others as statutory requirements. We are reminded that the parents are the ones who bear primary responsibility and if they can make their children safe at home, then every help must be given to do so. Kinship contact must be maintained and, when care becomes necessary, that priority must be given to placement with relatives.

RESOLVING SYSTEMIC AND NON-SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS IN CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES. (part 1)

By Ray Ferris

The first problem is to differentiate those problems that are systemic and those that are not. It is relatively easy to make recommendations for systemic change where the system is the problem. Much more difficult is trying to think of systemic remedies, which might improve non-systemic problems. Such remedies might have to be so drastic that people with a vested interest in opposing change might find the remedies undesirable.

Accordingly, in this series of blog pieces, I have tried to define some non-systemic and some systemic problems and to recommend how to fix them. To complicate matters there is also the factor that some problems are a combination of systemic and non-systemic, so the solutions will be even more complex. I have especially tried to focus on those non-systemic problems, which might possibly be improved by making systemic changes. The ones that come most quickly to mind are some non-systemic problems that were created by systemic change. For instance, the enactment of the current CF&CSA was a systemic change and it created great problems, so simply repealing the most problematic clauses might help.

One of the first things that one must always keep in mind is to accept the fact that there are no quick fixes. Solutions will be complex and they will take a plan of at least three or four years to bring about. The solutions will also be costly, but it can well be argued that they will not be as costly as trying to make the current broken system work.

 Ferris retired after a career that included significant years with the MCFD. He has written a book entitled 'The Art of Child Protection.' This is the first in a series of pieces Ray will write here. You can order Mr. Ferris' book entitled 'the Art of Child Protection' by contacting the author directly at rtferris@telus.net.