Alberta girl, 13, failed by foster care, inquiry finds

A disabled 13-year-oldgirl who died shortly after spending most of her life in foster care was failed by Alberta's foster care system,a fatality inquiry has found.

The report, written byProvincial Court Judge Marilena Carminati, foundSamantha Martin wasmalnourishedweighing only 51 pounds at 12 years of age and went forprolonged periods without seeing a doctor even though she had a rare genetic abnormality, andshould have seen a physician every few months.

"It was totally preventable. She should be with us today," said Samantha's mother Velvet Martin, who received the report this week.

Samantha died in December 2006, five months after she began living full-time with her biological family.

The judge ruled Samantha died of natural causes, likelya seizure, but shepointed out thatdoctors acknowledge untreated seizures carry a greater risk of death.

While Carminati ruled the cause of death undetermined, she made a number of recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.

• Children's Services should ensure that those case workers who work with a foster child have accurate and up-to-date information from a reliable medical source about the child's disability
• Children's Services should look at enhancing policies to ensure children are actually receiving their annual medical checkups as required
• When arecommendation is made bya reliable source (such as a school assessment), a doctor examine the child for possible medical issues
• Ensure caseworkers for the child have reasonable case load so they have time need to adequately document and follow-up on medical needs of the child

Velvet Martin said she doubts the recommendations will change anything.

"So many cases of families that have been wronged," she said. "There is a lack of follow through, repercussions anddeterrence.

"Until we establish some sort of mechansim to hold peopleaccountable, there will be no change," she said.

Shortly after Samantha was born with the chromosomal abnormality calledTetrasomy 18p, her parents put her in foster care upon the advice of workers from the provincial department of Childrens Services.

The family was toldSamantha would have access to better medical treatment, the inquiry heard.

But her life in foster care left her undernourished, sufferingunexplained bruises and fractures, and only occasional visits with doctorsand social workers.

School staffraised concerns with Alberta Children's Servicesover Samantha'sfrequent injuries, the meager contents of Samantha's lunchesfractures and her seizures.

A pediatriciantestified at thehearing that he ususally sees children with Samantha'scondition every three months and noted her medical file was unusually thin.

In fact, her medical records showa gapofthree years between doctor visits.

Samantha also went long periods of time between visits with a social worker. Samantha's social worker was supposed to meet with the girl every three months, but documents showgaps between visits ofup to 14 months.

The social worker testified there were two visits in that period, but she never found the time to complete her paperwork.

At the hearing, the same social worker testified "she would never havebeen able to find a placement for Samantha that would have been equal tolet alone better than the quality of care she was receiving in the foster home."