August
3, 2005
Child
Protection Cover-up Continues
The
controversy over the death of Sherry Charlie won't go
away. Much of the story seems to be breaking on the pages
of the Victoria Times Colonist, where in response
to an editorial, Child and Youth Officer Jane Morley submitted
an article followed by one published on August 2nd by
Jeremy Berland, provincial director of child welfare.
He wrote: "While, clearly, procedural and communication
breakdowns placed Sherry in danger, that does not mean
our entire child-welfare system does not work." The
Ministry knew the family's background but did not share
it with the First Nation's agency, which should have also
have known something about the family.
Berland
went on to talk about the heavy workload of child protection
complaints and investigations. He concluded: "Like
most human endeavours, social work is not fail-safe. Mistakes
happen. Child welfare workers can only be vigilant and
remain open to new ideas, lessons that tragedies present,
and new research that provides new and effective ways
to intervene with families and keep children safe."
Sherry Charlie deserves better than that. Mistakes cost
her life. That apparent attempt to escape accountability
is what calls the child welfare system into question.
If the Ministry is so anxious to hide its mistakes, it
raises questions as to how many other cases like Sherry's
exist.
Concerns
over what is happening to the protection of children grow
when anyone who is familiar with child welfare reads Berland's
article. In response to a freedom of information request
in 2003 the Ministry released data on the number of child
protection investigations. Those
data revealed a 20% drop in the number of investigations
for potential abuse or neglect of children since the Campbell
government implemented budget cuts to the Ministry of
Children and Family Development. The Ministry set a goal
of reducing the number of children-in-care and when the
numbers went down it laid off line level child protection
workers, arguing that the staffing model brought in by
the former government showed that fewer staff were required.
It didn't mention that it wasn't counting children placed
through "kith & kin" (Section 8) agreements.
Data on the Ministry's website show no homicides for children-in-care
in 2002 but 4 for children known to the Ministry. Sherry
was in the latter category. The spring
2005 AchieveBC newsletter boasted that: "In the
past two years, there have been 687 kith and kin agreements,
helping to reduce the number of children in care by 15
per cent. In 2003 alone, 30 per cent fewer children were
removed from their homes." Why that was reported
in a government propaganda sheet rather than on the Ministry's
website is an interesting but separate issue. The concern
is that the Ministry is using kith and kin agreements
to wash its hands of protection cases, as the newsletter
stated, "to reduce the number of children in care".
Placing a child with members of an extended family does
not eliminate responsibility for assuring that the placement
is safe. Children should still be considered removed from
their homes when they are with relatives rather than with
parents. Why doesn't the Ministry get it? Many fear that
the answer lies in budget cuts with inadequate attention
paid to the consequences. No number of exclusive guest
editorials written for the Times Colonist can eliminate
those suspicions. It is time for Stan Hagen, the Minister
responsible, to start answering questions rather than
hiding behind staff.
Correction:
An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to
data from 2003. Sherry Charlie died in 2002.
July
26, 2005
Child
Protection Cover-up
The
Ministry of Children and Family Development could be called
the Ministry of Grief and Suffering. Those who work with
abused and neglected children need to focus on their success
stories as it is far too depressing to concentrate on the
ugly side of their daily work. It is particularly tragic
when the Ministry contributes to the death of one of the
children in its care. That is what happened in the death
of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie whose foster dad smashed
her head on the floor when she wouldn't stop crying. That
happened in September 2002, but it took until July 2005
for the Ministry to release a highly sanitized summary of
its internal report into its role in Sherry's death.
The
government issued an "information
bulletin" which focused on the role of Usma Nuu-Chah-Nulth
Community and Human Services, one of the oldest delegated
First Nations child protection agencies in B.C. The bulletin
states that "The review found that Usma, which is provincially
delegated to provide a full range of child-protection services,
did not meet all practice guidelines and standards when
it placed Sherry under a "kith and kin" agreement."
The bulletin didn't mention any criticism of the Ministry;
however, according to the summarized
report the "information sharing process" between
Usma and the Ministry "failed to alert" social
workers about issues concerning the foster family.
When
Gordon Campbell was leader of the Official Opposition, he
and his caucus routinely sensationalized tragedies in child
welfare, creating the impression that children's deaths
were the personal responsibility of the Minister. Campbell
insisted that change within the Ministry cease so as to
provide stability and that funding be increased. As Premier
he oversaw cuts to the Ministry, reductions in line level
child protection workers and constant organizational chaos
as plans to regionalize services were repeatedly changed
and delayed. He eliminated the Office of the independent
Children's Commissioner and changed the law to plug any
comments or leaks from those who know the details of cases
that would embarrass the government. While it is proper
to demand more information concerning the death of Sherry
Charlie, it would be a mistake to follow the example of
Campbell and react as if the death were the personal fault
of the Minister or a social worker. Where the government
deserves harshest criticism is for its efforts to prevent
public scrutiny of the Ministry.
How
many other cases are there like Sherry Charlie? In 2002,
the year Sherry died, there were 70 fatalities of children
who received services from the Ministry ("known to
the Ministry") in the previous 12 months; 12 of the
deaths were of children "in-care" at the time
of their death. According to those statistics
on the Ministry's website; 4 of the 2002 deaths were
homicides but none of those were for children-in-care, kinship
placements are not counted as children-in-care although
almost 20% of ministry placements use that form of fostering.
It took several freedom of information requests as StrategicThoughts
attempted to track the number of deaths of children-in-care
since the Campbell government started cutting services in
the Ministry. Following those requests the Ministry finally
posted the numbers to its website, only to remove them and
re-post following criticism for their disappearance. Numbers
that were provided in 2003 for the years 2000 through early
2003 were revised in 2004. The Ministry increased by two
the number of deaths in each of three years. It is very
concerning when the Ministry does not appear capable of
accurately reporting the number of deaths, let alone reporting
on its responsibility and involvement in those deaths.
The
Campbell government needs to respond to the controversy
that is building around its handling of the report on Sherry
Charlie's death. The Child
and Youth Officer for British Columbia is not providing
the kind of independence and confidence that was provided
by the former Children's Commissioner. She wrote a response
to a Times Colonist editorial, her first public remarks
since the release of the summarized report. She should make
her Times Colonist response available on her website. In
the article, Jane Morley said that more information should
be made available and that a representative of the Opposition
should be invited to participate in the Chief Coroner's
multidisciplinary review of Sherry Charlie's death. Morley's
support for the release of more information is welcome.
Her recommendation that a representative of the official
opposition be invited to participate in the Chief Coroner's
review poses some interesting challenges. Can the opposition
critic fulfill his duties if he becomes part of the process
and is bound by confidentiality? There are legitimate arguments
on both sides of that question. It will be interesting to
see, if the invitation is extended, what the response is.
Stan Hagen, Minister of Children and Family Development,
will doubtless be asked about Sherry Charlie when the legislature
sits in September; the proposed invitation to the opposition
critic shouldn't blunt his questions. Expect the Minister
to hide behind privacy concerns, to focus responsibility
on the First Nation's child protection agency and to call
for patience while the Chief Coroner's process is completed
- three years after the death!
Gordon
Campbell needs to show the kind of interest in child welfare
that he once showed when he was seeking to become Premier.
The public needs more information and accountability, not
more politics. Did the government conveniently sit on the
summary report until after May 17th? Why did it take an
editorial in the Times Colonist before the Child and Youth
Officer publicly commented? How much of the proceedings
of the Chief Coroner's multidisciplinary review will be
conducted in public? Like Matthew Vaudreuil, Sherry Charlie's
death leaves a lot of unanswered questions.
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