The report, so many plans, so little stability:...

THE REPORT, SO MANY PLANS, SO LITTLE STABILITY:
A Child’s Need for Security, identifies inadequacies in child welfare planning, case management, decision-making, and holes in how government and delegated Aboriginal agencies work together, and courts assess potential caregivers. B.C.’s Representative for Children and Youth released her investigation report in the chaotic life and unexpected death of a four-month-old infant. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said “A child at the most vulnerable stage of life was not well-served by jurisdictional shifts between agencies with a duty to care for him. Everybody knew there was a problem—family, community members and agencies—but no one saw through the confusion and took concrete action to safeguard this little boy.” She said 11 different placement plans for the infant’s care were made over a four-month period, ranging from the infant being cared for by various different relatives to the infant being brought into the legal care of the Ministry of Child and Family Development. But with no follow-through or oversight, most became nothing more than ideas and theories, and were later abandoned. Turpel-Lafond’s report states that 16 social workers touched the case before the infant’s death, as did lawyers and the family court. The infant’s file was transferred five times between MCFD and the delegated Aboriginal Agency. “The focus was not on the needs of this First Nations infant, and there was no observable logic to what happened regarding his care,” said Turpel-Lafond. “There was limited consideration given to the safety, stability and consistency required for a newborn to thrive. Instead, chaos and confusion prevailed throughout his brief life.” Turpel-Lafond said she cannot conclude whether the infant’s death was preventable or find any evidence that links this baby’s death to the care he received. But this does not minimize concerns raised by her investigation, she said, because case management was clearly chaotic and this child’s best interests were not considered.