Teen troubled but got no counselling before suicide, inquest hears

Group home staff suspected Tracia Owen had been repeatedly abused but counselling was never arranged for the Winnipeg teen who eventually committed suicide, an inquest heard as it resumed Tuesday.

The province's chief medical examiner ordered the review afterthe 14-year-old took her own lifein August 2005. It'sexamininghow child welfare services monitored the girl's life and trying to determine whetherdrugs or sexual exploitation were factors in her death.

Owen, a ward of Southeast Child and Family Services through much of her life, was moved more than 65 times through a series of foster homes, group homes, a drug treatment facility and her biological parents' home, the inquest has heard.

Monique Chester who ran the Young Spirits group home in Winnipeg, where Owen lived in 2004 told the inquest Tuesday that Owen frequently went "AWOL" and did not attend school for at least part of the year.

Describing Owen as "a little sweetheart," Chester testified Owen had once stopped another girl from committing suicide while living at Young Spirits.

However, Owen was also an angry girl and was at times aggressive, Chester said. She said Owenwas influenced by older girls at the group home and was often high on drugs or intoxicated.

Staff suspected Owen had been sexually assaulted several times, Chester told the inquest, but there was no clear evidence or suspects.

Despite these concerns, Southeast Child and Family Services never arranged for counselling or special assistance for Owen, Chester said.

In earlier testimony, other adults involved in Owen's life have admitted that the case information onthe teenwas inadequate, and that it contained little indication of her involvement in the sex trade or drug use.

Owen, who was originally from Little Grand Rapids, hanged herself in a garage in the city's West End neighbourhood.

The inquest is expected to hear several more weeks of testimony.