September 23, 2005

More Child Protection Investigations

In a news release dated September 22, 2005, Acting Provincial Ombudsman Howard Kushner announced that "an investigation is being conducted into the child protection practices of the Ministry of Children and Family Development arising out of the recent issues involving the Ministry and Usma Nuu Chah Nulth Community and Human Services". The news release quoted Kushner saying:

"The responsibility for establishing standards and investigating child protection concerns rests with the Ministry," said Kushner. "Our role, in light of the concerns raised, is to determine whether the Ministry has taken adequate steps to ensure that the appropriate child protection standards are being upheld."

Kushner's announcement is important for three reasons. First, it puts child protection as the priority, not political inoculation by the government. Second, it ends the debate over whether an investigation into the effects of cuts to budget and staffing will occur; Kushner cannot help but look at those factors. Third, it shows what a truly independent Officer of the Legislature can do, unlike Jane Morley, Child and Youth Officer, who had to take direction from the Attorney General under Section 6 of her legislation.

In what some may see as an attempt to push back, at 1:00 PM on September 22nd, Morley issued a news release in which she announced that she would exercise powers under Section 8 of the statute governing her Office so as to "issue a wide-ranging report on the many systemic issues raised by the events surrounding Sherry Charlie's death including the roles played by MCFD workers and by other agencies." Her release also quoted her saying: "I will also examine the impact of the cuts to child and youth service funds on this tragic case." Her release concluded with an assertion that she is independent and has been "assured directly by Premier Campbell that mine is an independent office." Since Morley wrote the report that government used in abolishing the Children's Commission and the Office of the Child, Youth and Family Advocate, it is understandable that she is defensive about her current role and position. On previous occasions she insisted that a new process involving the coroner will be adequate to determine what needs to be done following tragedies like the death of Sherry Charlie. It is undoubtedly in the public interest that Kushner has acted. The investigation that he has announced appears to be more general in its scope than that announced by Morley.

Kushner should exercise care not to accept the standards set by the Ministry and then merely investigate to determine whether those standards are being met. The Ministry has the desirable goal of reducing the number of children-in-care; what the Ministry doesn't seem to understand is that it may cost more in the short run to keep children out of care. If Kushner asks any line-level social worker who is involved in child protection about the differences between "kith & kin" placements and foster care, he will be very surprised by the answer. In both cases a parent relinquishes a child to be placed in the home of someone else; however, different standards apply for determining whether the receiving home is a safe and adequate place for the child. When asked about those differences on the Rafe Mair show in an interview on August 12th, Jane Morley ducked the question by saying that a kith & kin placement is not foster care. That misses the point. The same care should be taken to assure that a child is placed in a safe and nourishing environment whether that is with family, friends or strangers. The fact that different standards apply to those different placements puts children at risk. Kushner needs to interview social workers about that practice. Since I have written on the issue, I have received emails reporting cases of parents who are about to relinquish custody of their child running newspaper advertisements to recruit a placement which then qualifies as a "kith" placement. This policy puts budget cuts ahead of child protection. Children deserve better.