Monday July 3, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated July 7, 2023]
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Since the entirely awful news about the death of one child and serious injury of another while in foster care, political opposition parties and others have produced a knee-jerk reaction. The news came to light recently when the parents were sent to jail for 10 years for harming the children.
Using the age-old ‘toss the bum out’ approach when something goes wrong — rather than being part of the solution, or at the very least seeing and acknowledging the progress toward a solution — is one of the many reason why politics is such a turnoff for many people. Use of one blunt tool is a party-pushback manouver, not a solution.
There are few callings or responsibilities of government than the well-being of children. It will rarely if ever be done perfectly right, as human beings are not failproof.
BC is arguably ahead of many jurisdictions in its efforts to make changes in the past few years. It’s a mammoth task — hardly just administrative, it takes the heart of a lioness. But it does require methodical and detailed work through policies, regulations and legislation. Dean seems to have her staff on board for that work.
Calls from the opposition:
The BC United Party and the BC Greens are pointing out what they consider to be failures and deficiencies of the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), and more specifically targeting the current MCFD Minister Mitzi Dean by asking for her resignation.
Green House Leader Adam Olsen says Dean is ‘entirely incapable’ of delivering reforms. BC United MLA Karin Fitzpatrick, Shadow Minister for Housing, Childcare, Autism & Accessibility, Gender Equity & Inclusion, has called for Dean’s resignation as well.
Problems for years:
In the past few days some quotes from long ago (when now former Premier John Horgan was an opposition MLA) were dredged up and posted on social media about how the NDP accused the then-government BC Liberals of similar significant deficiencies, shortfalls and failures in MCFD. It’s the operations of the Ministry that possibly haven’t changed enough, but Minister Dean has undertaken to make internal ministry improvements (scroll down to see Significant Changes in Foster Care).
Previous MCFD’s have unfortunately seen children die or be harmed under their watch, with devastating impacts on the minister at the time. It’s possibly one of the most thankless ministries in provincial government while at the same time being one that impacts human lives so directly.
The BC Greens say this (a statement from Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, BC Green Caucus, Member of Tsartlip First Nation), as received by Island Social Trends on July 5, 2023:
“The Ministry of Children and Family Development has needed to be transformed for decades. The BC NDP called for this when they were in opposition, and in government they have failed to deliver it. They maintain and defend the status quo just like the BC Liberals (BC United) before them. The most recent shocking and horrific case in Lake Errock is another in a long line of incidents that shows there is no accountability in the institution and Minister Mitzi Dean and the senior staff in the Ministry are responsible for the culture that allowed for these children to be tortured, abused, and beaten to the point that one of the children died. This Ministry needs to be taken apart brick-by-brick and the transformation must start with a new Minister and Deputy Minister tasked with the enormous job of finally creating a child welfare system in this province that protects the welfare of children.”
Reasons for ministerial resignation:
Cutting the knees out from someone who is currently best suited to fixing the problems is politics at its blind worst. Eby is on to that, and has not taken the bait.
Does a Minister’s resignation ever fix the problem? Sometimes. If removing a particular Minister would fairly readily improve flow of a Ministry or department or government program it could make sense. If in a true political sense a Minister carries political baggage that drags a party or government down, then it might also make sense.
But in this case Minister Dean has spent her entire career in the pursuit of better scenarios for children and families. For 10 years she was the active lead at Pacific Centre Family Services Association in the west shore which arguably put her in the spotlight for being hand-picked by Horgan to run as an MLA in 2017. She got her legislative feet wet as the first Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity from 2017 to 2020, and in 2020 was appointed as Minister of Children and Family Development.
When Horgan retired and David Eby became premier in November 2022, Dean stayed on in the portfolio where wins probably rarely come easily. She is also Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Social Initiatives. This is her service, with the well-being of people at the heart of it.
If for whatever reason there is fatigue in any minister’s role (federal or provincial), perhaps there should be a reexamination of where support is needed. Sometimes cutting a minister loose will be the right choice, and in particular if there is someone better suited to the job.
But in this situation insisting on the resignation of Minister Dean seems only in the interest of political gain by the opposition. Meanwhile, Premier Eby made a statement last week that he has her back.
Significant changes in foster care:
According to a statement from the Ministry of Children and Family Development, some of the recent transformations MCFD has undergone include:
- Passed the historic Bill 38: Indigenous Self-Government in Child and Family Services Amendment Act, which removes barriers for Indigenous Governing Bodies to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services.
- Reduced the number of Indigenous children in care to its lowest rate (now at 3,292, the lowest since 1999, and from 4,380 in February 2017), keeping more children and youth connected with family, community and culture.
- Introduced the SAJE suite of supports to support youth transitioning from care to adulthood, including a $600-a-month rent supplement, a no-limit earnings exemption for benefit calculations, and transition support workers.
- Increased the monthly rates for caregivers by up to 47%, helping to cover food, clothing and transportation costs for children and youth in their care.
- Work is underway to transform the ministry’s care system to a network of Specialized Homes and Support Services (SHSS) that provides wraparound supports to children, youth and families and puts the unique needs of the child at the centre.
Taking children from families:
Think for a moment about a society that removes children from families, even possibly for their own good. Why are those families in crisis? Is there generational trauma or inability to find or be suited for gainful employment? Could they possibly just need more money (could a basic income or other supports like adequate housing be the answer in many situations)? Is any of that precursory impact the fault of the state?
And is there really a true belief that care by the state — no matter how well intentioned or delivered — is the same as being with or at least staying connected with one’s familial circle? Dean has recognized the flaw in that thinking and has been working to keep families together as much as possible.
Children raised by the state are already up against the antithesis of the ideal family scenario and all the benefits that a ‘normal’ family implicitly provides. Yes, there are some amazing loving foster homes, and they are likely a treasure to all concerned (to the children mostly, but also for the Ministry). But at its root, foster care is about providing a support system for children in some state of perceived disadvantage. Whose perception is that? Are root causes like poverty being addressed? The BC NDP government created a poverty reduction ministry in 2017.
Foster care is one of the most difficult assignments for any government or minister to undertake; there’s really no perfect solution. And as a footnote, let’s not overlook the damage to the family members left behind when children are removed; in many ways that just perpetuates or even exacerbates the trauma.
In the case of the terrible harms to the two children recently reported about in the news last week (an 11-year-old boy died at the hands of the foster parents and his 8-year-old sister was seriously harmed), the foster parents were criminally charged, convicted, and given 10-year jail sentences. Both the foster parents and the children were Indigenous; perhaps none of them had a good fair shot at life to begin with, if there were hardships already placed upon them ahead of the foster care disaster.
COVID fallout:
Sadly, one might in part blame the COVID pandemic. People’s behaviour in 2020 and 2021 was reactive to fear of the virus, until immunization across communities became resilient enough. The local care workers who were supposed to have checked in on those failed children just didn’t show up in 2021, even though the Ministry still required in-person visits.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, policy required that children and youth in care and/or those who were the subject of a child protection response were seen in person. Under ministry policies, children who are in care are to be seen regularly by a social worker. In this specific instance, ministry policy was not followed by the staff involved,” said the Ministry of Children and Family Development in a statement to Island Social Trends on June 30.
Those two staffers have since been fired by MCFD.
MCFD supports an investigation:
“The ministry is fully supportive of the Representative for Children and Youth’s investigation. MCFD will support and participate in all efforts to bring the facts to light and will assist the representative in any way that she deems necessary. We will address all recommendations to improve the safety of children and youth in care,” said MCFD in their statement on June 30.
The Representative for Children and Youth is an independent officer of the Legislature appointed under the authority of the Representative for Children and Youth Act. Currently that position is held by Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth.
The Representative for Children and Youth as an independent office is charged with conducting independent reviews and investigations into the critical injuries or deaths of children receiving reviewable services under the Representative for Children and Youth Act.
“As indicated by Minister Dean in her statement on Monday, we welcome her independent investigation,” says MFCD in their statement to Island Social Trends.
“Discussions are ongoing between the First Nations Leadership Council and the Government of BC about this tragic incident,” states MCFD.
Employee failure:
The Ministry has already discovered that staff didn’t check on the children in person. Employees didn’t do their job. While not in any way aiming to minimize the impact of the no-show in this tragic situation, find a company or government office anywhere that doesn’t have employees who fail at their jobs.
That doesn’t mean that the CEO — or in this case the Minister — is directly at fault. If anything, if that leader has deep breadth of knowledge and true commitment to the organization, they are likely the one best to oversee a resolution.
Changes made:
The Ministry of Children and Family Development says it has conducted a thorough review of MCFD’s involvement with the children who Minister Dean says were “failed at every level“.
“As a result of this review, the Ministry has made changes at the office that was involved to ensure that existing Ministry practices are followed.” According to the Ministry, that includes actions to:
- Review all placement decisions for children placed outside their parental home to ensure the care providers have been assessed appropriately.
- Review the thorough and timely completion of child protection incidents with the involved staff.
- Ensure the involved staff would also receive training about guardianship responsibilities, including regular in-person, private meetings with children-in-care, updating Care Plans, completing cultural plans for Indigenous children-in-care, and ensuring children access appropriate medical care and support services.
- Complete a review of the involved team’s cases, focusing on family service, child service and resource standards.
“The changes outlined above have been fully implemented at the office that was involved in this incident,” the Ministry says.
“The Ministry continues to make progress to fundamentally change how it operates to better support children, youth and families. There are still many changes required and we are committed to advancing that work,” says the Ministry of Children and Family Development. MCFD deputy minister is Allison Bond.
Premier Eby has Minister Dean’s back:
Premier David Eby didn’t at first offer a blustery burst of defense for Mitzi Dean, but he eventually said last week that the Minister “has his confidence”. He had also defended his decision back in December (at the December 7, 2022 cabinet swearing-in) to reappoint her as Minister of Children and Family Development, noting even then the deeper work she’d been doing in the MCFD.
Here is a transcript of comments made by the Premier on Monday June 26, on this situation:
“The devastating impacts on these kids, the conduct of these two individuals who have rightly been sentenced to jail, is huge for, in particular, people from First Nations communities that have been impacted by a broken child welfare system for so many decades. Minister Dean understands that, I understand that and it is a massive responsibility that she takes on as minister to address these issues.
We have big challenges in that system still, and Mitzi has taken on significant reform work to make sure that every kid in the province gets the care that they deserve. She has my confidence, and she and I obviously have some serious work to do with First Nations leadership, with First Nations communities, to provide them with the information that they need to have the confidence that we’re headed in the right direction on these files, given the disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities of our child welfare system, historically and currently.
We’re going to keep doing that work. We know what the long-term answer is, though, which is to make sure that Indigenous communities are responsible and have jurisdiction and authority for their own kids. That’s where we’re headed. That’s the work that she’s leading and that’s what’s going to move us forward on this file and address these issues for the long-term.“
Local west shore representation:
Mtizi Dean is a well-connected MLA on the west shore of the Greater Victoria area; she is a key ground-game MLA for the BC NDP on south Vancouver Island. She has been steadfast in the BC NDP government since day-one under Horgan.
Many in the west shore region feel her impact through a range of initiatives. In recent months she’s been encouraging partnerships and collaboration with local mayors and has always thoughtfully engaged with the local school district. She will soon have a west shore MLA peer in Ravi Parmar who recently won the Langford-Juan de Fuca by-election.
===== RELATED:
Minister Dean: These children were failed at every level (June 26, 2023)
BC boosts payments for supporting children in foster, kinship & out-of-care (March 29, 2023)
Mitzi Dean co-chairing new panel on Children & Youth with Support Needs (January 27, 2021)
Mitzi Dean: government stands with those who need it most (March 8, 2020)