Manitoba pledges millions to improve child welfare system

Manitoba will spend "tens of millions" of dollars to implement more than 200 recommendations contained in a pair of reports on problems in the child welfare system, Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh says.

The reports, released on Wednesday,say the system needs more money, additional workers, and improved training and resources for workers and foster parents.As well, the workloads of caseworkers should be reduced so they can visit children and families more often, the reports said.

The reports, including one that examined the deaths of 99 children who were in care between 2004 and 2006,were sparked by the death of a girl from the Fisher River Cree Nation.

RCMP say the five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair was abused and killed in June 2005, three months after Child and Family Services returned her to the custody of her birth mother. Samantha Kematch, 24, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Phoenix's death.

The family ofanother child who died while in foster care said Wednesday they hope the province will live up to its promises to protect other children.

Child abused, father believes

Heaven Traverse, a two-year-old toddlerfrom the Fisher River Cree Nation, was in foster care when she died in a Winnipeg hospital in January 2005.

Her father said he believes the girl was abused while in a foster home in Peguis. Lawrence Traverse said doctors told him at the time that Heaven died as a result of head trauma.

"I've seen all the bruises on my daughter's head, her arms and her legs. Was she like a little human punching bag or something," he said Wednesday.

Traverse said he alerted a social worker, who he said ignored his warnings. The foster parents were later charged with assault in connection with Heaven's death.

Janelle Traverse, Heaven's aunt, said Wednesday she hopes the province keeps its promise to improve workers' training and increase home visits.

"We trust these workers and the foster homes when they take our children. We trust that they're going to take care of them and protect them," she said.

Lawrence Traverse was not optimistic. "I don't know if it's going to help, because I got hurt too much by Child and Family [Services]. I can't trust them," he said.

Money may not fix all problems: CFS official

Even with millions in new money, there's no guarantee all the problems in the child welfare system can be fixed, said Elsie Flette, chief executive officer of the First Nations of Southern Manitoba CFS Authority.

"Children have fallen through the cracks that unfortunately is going to continue to happen," Flette said Wednesday.

"We hope to reduce the number. We hope to be better at recognizing who those children are."

Mackintosh said Wednesday the province will also launch a program that will help families in difficulty before they face a crisis. It will also broaden its services to include families that previously found little or no help in the child-welfare system.