MORE BAD NEWS ABOUT THE MINISTRY OF CHILDREN

             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.

THE MCFD REVIEW BUBBLE MAY BURST AGAIN

This month the child welfare ministry in B.C. has been censured for sickening misconduct in a decades old litany of disturbing stories. This time it was for defiance and deceptive of the courts and supplying four children into the hands of their abusive father. The public and the media are outraged, well perhaps only annoyed. I'm not convinced too many people take this Ministry's chronic dysfunction seriously. Yet Premier Clark sounded sincerely disconcerted by Judge Walker's pronouncement of culpability against the Ministry. Both the Minister of Children, Hon. Stephanie Cadieux and Premier Clark pledged to conduct a review. Well of course. But I suspect that it is merely a bubble that will burst.

A COMPUTER SYSTEM IS NOT MCFD's ONLY PROBLEM

A Colossal Failure - That's the System that Manages 
Child Protection in B.C.

Today I am featuring a blog remark by Ray Ferris who is responding to a Victoria Times Colonist article written by Lindsay Kines and entitled Children's watchdog says computer system for social workers a “colossal failure,” dated January 25, 2013.  Hers is a copyrighted piece so Ms. Kines credited remarks are seen in red. Ray’s are seen in blue.

DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

The article is subtitled, MARY ELLEN TURPEL-LAFOND, THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, SAYS A DEEPER LOOK AT THE PROVINCE'S INTEGRATED CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS NEEDED.  

“We’re in deep trouble,” she said. “This is a deeply serious problem,” were the words of Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, in response to a consultant’s report released by the province on Thursday, which confirms her warning from a year ago that the $182-million integrate case management system is woefully deficient and inefficient.