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By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Tragic death of child in foster care raises so many red flags

Jul 21, 2023 | 5:06 AM

YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOOK VERY FAR to see how badly the social services system is broken. The tragic death of an 11-year old boy in the Fraser Valley and the abuse suffered by his younger sister is so abhorrent as to be almost incomprehensible.

It would take a much longer essay to cover all the issues but let’s just cover a few bases. The ultimate responsibility for kids in foster care is with the ministry. They must ensure the safety of children in care. If there had been personal visits or even video calls, workers would easily seen the abuse. To be out of close contact, apparently for seven months, is inexcusable.

One question is, how did these kids get placed with this couple in the first place? Supposedly, they were supposed to be there for a short time, but that time dragged into years, during which time they were horribly abused.

Why was this not caught earlier? We know social workers are overburdened with cases, most of them way above the number they should be looking after. They are not paid particularly well, and often are not only looking after their own cases, but looking after their co-workers’ cases when those people are away on vacation, medical leave, etc.

It’s impossible, especially in rural areas. Let’s say you’re a worker with a case out of town. You make a trip, driving an hour or more each way, and counting your visit and assessment. You’ve taken the better part of a day, pushing other cases to another day. Many interim visits are done on video, and they may or may not be accurately portraying reality.

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None of this takes away from the responsibility of the ministry to see that the job gets done. And none of it takes away from the blame placed on whoever made the decision to locate these kids in a home full of a history of drug use.

The comments made by Mr. Justice Peter La Prairie in sentencing the foster parents to 10 years in jail for the crime speaks of the anguish many have about this case. The judge talked about the questions regarding checking on these kids — the fact that another adult was in the home, and did nothing, that the Indigenous community nearby must have heard or seen some of this abuse. They did nothing, and the list goes on.

As Mr. Justice La Prairie pointed out, no one did anything — period. And so the beatings and abuse went on until the boy died, and the girl was left with physical and mental scars that will forever haunt her.

Maybe an inquiry will help. But it has to deal with all aspects of social services, criteria for placement, criteria for ensuring safety, and how to incentivize workers to work in the tough locations. Do you want to be posted to Hope, or Dease Lake or Telegraph Creek? Or worse still, the Downtown Eastside? In this case, does the Indigenous community need to step up? These are just some of the many questions that need to be addressed, with transparency, and honest and open discussion.

This is an NDP issue, it’s a B.C. United Party issue, it belongs to the federal government, the education ministry, the Indigenous community and the community at large. It’s your problem, and it’s my problem. The only way it will get resolved is by discussion, honest and open.

Sadly, that may be the most difficult obstacle of all.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.