Is Anyone Watching the Kids?
Filed Under: Local
I don’t know what I find more disturbing, the death of two young children in foster care or the province of Manitoba’s response.
For those not familiar with the cases two-year-old Heaven was living with foster parents when she died on Jan. 14, 2005. Her father Lawrence claimed he told CFS (Child and Family Services) that his daughter was being abused but they allegedly ignored him. And in another case another toddler vanished from the same reserve (Fisher River Cree Nation) sometime last year but police weren’t made aware of her disappearance for several months afterwards. RCMP now think young Phoenix was abused and killed last June with her body never having been found. Her mother and her mother’s boyfriend have been charged with murder in that case.
In light of these two tragedies the province of Manitoba has instructed social workers to conduct face-to-face meetings with all children currently in their care to ensure they’re safe. And they must do so within 30 days. The province has files on some 6,100 children.
At first glance the order to check on all of these children seems sensible until you actually think about it a little. Don’t they already do that? Is there not some type of provision or mechanism in place that demands these children be looked on at regular intervals? Why does the governing NDP suddenly feel the urge to conduct a system-wide check and rush out to see the kids? Don’t get me wrong, I think checking up is a great idea. My only concern is that it hasn’t been done - until now.
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