System loopholes contributed to baby’s death: Report
Posted Sep 13, 2011 03:55:30 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC’s children’s watchdog has another heartbreaking story about the death of an aboriginal baby.
Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says the boy was passed around like luggage, having seven different caregivers and 16 social workers during his short life.
“It all happens without the Ministry of Children and Family being on their toes,” Turpel-Lafond said. “Essentially it means that a child is moved around without considering whether there is a caregiver that can really meet their needs.”
In April of 2007 he was put in a bassinet by the person looking after him, but when she came back to check on him 30 minutes later his face was blue.
Turpel-Lafond explains the mother was able to transfer guardianship of the baby to another unfit parent because there’s a loophole in the Family Relations Act that allows a parent to request a transfer of guardianship to a person of their choice.
“She herself had lost her own children and had a significant criminal record, and a judge approved that because there is no way to provide for safety in the family justice system,” Turpel-Lafond said.
BC Children’s and Family Development Minister Mary McNeil says significant changes have been made since the boy’s death.
“When families move back and forth between jurisdictions it gets very tough for staff who have already developed a relationship with the family to communicate back and forth,” McNeil said. “Staffing regions have been advised to assign joint workers between the two so that the children in the family don’t get lost in the process.”
She also says staff have been given more clarity on policies and there’s a better working relationship between the province and delegated Aboriginal agencies.
McNeil says the province is also in the process of closing the loophole that allows an unfit parent to transfer guardianship of a child to a relative, even if that person has a questionable history.
“It’s tough and we get slammed for that because sometimes what’s best for the child isn’t necessarily what’s best for members of the family,” McNeil said. “We don’t take children unless there is a lot of thought and there is good reason. When we apprehend a child, a judge gets involved in seven days and they make a judgment as well.”
She hopes the Family Relations Act will be changed by next year at the latest. Turpel-Lafond is also calling for more accountability from aboriginal children’s agencies.
Read the entire report here.
