Report cites 'chaos' in Man. child welfare system

Manitoba's children's advocatewarns that the province's child welfare system is "in a state of chaos" in a document that is being kept private.

A recent budget submission from the Office of the Children's Advocate points to high caseloads for social workers and a lack of resources, sources who have seen the document said Tuesday.

The written submission was made to a legislature committee that oversees the budget of the advocate's office and other independent bodies, such as the auditor general.

'We need a child advocate in place, a permanent one, that can look into the issues.' PC family services critic Bonnie Mitchelson

The document also cites the government's policy of placing aboriginal foster children in other aboriginal homes, saying many non-aboriginal foster parents are quitting because they worry their foster children will be taken from them for cultural reasons, the sources said.

The report points out that the number of children in care has ballooned to more than 8,600 from 6,600 in the last five years.

Manitoba Liberals have called on the government to make the document public, but Speaker George Hickes ruled last week that it must be kept private because it was for committee use only and contains personal information.

No public comment from children's advocate

The province's acting children's advocate, Bonnie Kocsis, would not comment on the document Tuesday, saying she is required under law to keep the committee presentation confidential. She would not even confirm whether the report included the word "chaos" to describe the system.

"I can't speak to any of that," she said in an interview. "What I can do is I can suggest that if people want to know the actual definition of chaos, I would refer them to any Oxford dictionary."

Kocsis stepped into the role just six weeks ago, replacing Billie Schibler, who is on leave for personal reasons and is in the final year of her six-year mandate.

The NDP government said it has boosted funding for the children's advocate and for the child welfare system and things are improving.

"We have put money in place in the last two budgets for prevention programming to provide supports at the community level that will enable families and children to stay together in a healthy lifestyle," Premier Greg Selinger said Tuesday.

Criticism of Manitoba's child welfare system has grown since 2003, when the province started handing over management of aboriginal cases to aboriginal run regional authorities. Internal and external reviews were launched after some high-profile deaths of children who had been placed in harm's way.

Criminal deaths prompt policy shift

The most notorious case was that of Phoenix Sinclair, a five-year-old girl who spent most of her life in foster care and wasmurdered after being handed back to her mother, Samantha Kematch. The girl suffered months of horrific abuse before being beaten to death in the basement of her home on the Fisher River reserve north of Winnipeg. The child welfare system wasn't aware of her death for almost a year. Kematch and her boyfriend, Karl McKay, are currently serving life sentences for first-degree murder.

In another case, two-year-old Gage Guimond was given to his great-aunt, Shirley Guimond, despite the fact she had a criminal record. The boy was beaten and died after falling down stairs. Guimond was sentenced to 18 months house arrest last week for failing to provide the necessities of life.

The case prompted the government to change its legislation in order to ensure that a child's safety is the prime concern for foster care, not cultural or family ties.

The Progressive Conservatives want to hear more from the children's advocate, but they are concerned about the turnover in the office, which has not produced an annual report since 2007-08.

"We're in the last year of [Schibler's] mandate. She is on long-term leave and won't be coming back," said Tory family services critic Bonnie Mitchelson.

"We need a child advocate in place, a permanent one, that can look into the issues."