VICTORIA - There's some new appalling detail on almost every page of the report into why a little boy was left for months in the care of the man who beat his 19-month-old sister to death.
The government finally released Child and Youth Officer Jane Morley's report Friday, after sitting on it for three weeks. The report paints a terrible picture of failure, of a system snarled in rigid bureaucracy and plagued by paralysing secrecy, suspicion and indecision.
Ministry of children and families staff were keeping secrets from Usma, the First Nations' agency delivering child protection services to the family. Usma workers were keeping, it turned out, the same secrets from ministry staff.
Pleas for help and direction from front-line workers were ignored by senior ministry staff.
Even as chaos and confusion mounted, no one at the top levels of the ministry stepped in, called people together and sorted things out,
And all the while the Coroners Service, responsible for child death reviews, was refusing to provide critical information - including the details of the terrible injuries that killed Sherry Charlie - to the people charged with protecting her three-year-old brother Jamie and the other children in the Port Alberni home.
It's a grim recitation, made bearable only because the children weren't physically harmed.
Sherry Charlie, who had been placed in the care of family members by Usma on behalf of the ministry, was beaten to death Sept. 4. Within five days preliminary autopsy results made it clear to the coroner and police that she hadn't died from a fall down a few stairs, as the family claimed. She had head and abdominal trauma, a lacerated liver, internal bleeding and other injuries.
But neither coroner nor police shared that information with the ministry or Usma for almost two months.
Some scenes in the report stand out, moments that can convey the bizarre way this case was handled. By late October, eight weeks after the killing, the coroner had told ministry staff - vaguely - that Sherry's death hadn't been caused by a fall down stairs. But the coroner had insisted the information be kept secret.
Usma was about to extend Jamie's placement in the home. A senior ministry official was concerned enough to call the Usma supervisor and ask if she was sure that was the right decision. The puzzled Usma worker asked if the ministry knew something that she didn't.
Instead of answering, the ministry manager allowed a silent pause. She thought that was a good way to hint at problems; the Usma worker thought she was acknowledging there were no concerns. It was a ludicrous way to deal with a child in danger.
What also stands out is the failure of the Coroners Service to discharge - or even grasp - its responsibilities. It took four months for the coroner's service to produce an autopsy report on Sherry's death, which confirmed the original findings. It took another two months of effort to get the coroner to provide the report to the ministry.
This despite a legal requirement that coroners, like others, immediately report to the ministry any facts that raise questions about a child's safety.
It's grim. The Coroners Service priority appeared to be the police case, not children's safety.
Worse, Morley notes that the coroner involved and the Coroners Service both tried to argue that she shouldn't be allowed to comment or report on the possibility that the service had made mistake, broken laws or make any comments that "reflect adversely on the Coroner's competence." It's an incredible attempt to deny public accountability and hide from independent scrutiny.
The other alarming element to all this is that the facts are only coming out now, more than four years after all this happened.
And for much of that time the government has insisted that there was no need for an investigation, that the case had been properly handled and the Coroners Service was handling its responsibilities effectively.
Morley's report shows that none of those claims were true.
Footnote: The report includes on recommendation which urges the government to create a "system of multi-agency child death teams" to investigate when a child dies unexpectedly in the home of a caregiver and other children remain in the home. If the system had been in place, Morley says, police, coroner, the ministry and Usma could have worked together quickly and effectively.
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12 comments:
And the premier is still dragging his feet with the selection of a person recommended by Judge Hughes, and reminded again by Judge Hughes it's time. If the three Liberal backbenchers are so busy they can't organize themselves enough to have a meeting with the rest of the committee, get some others who can But then again Gordon would have to call in the House, something he really doesn't want to do. Children deaths don't seem to cut it with Gordo and Co.
Isn't Jane Morley the same one who recommended so many of these bad changes to the government.
Yes, Jane Morley recommended that the BC Liberals hide crucial information from care providers and the public.
Jane Morley told Gordon Campbell that the best way to deal with child in care deaths was to delay investigations and to do nothing but shuffle and promote the senior MCFD staff involved.
Jane Morley also commanded that the BC Liberals reorganize the MCFD every few months to promote stability.
If Jane Morley gets offered the job I will be very sad. The woman was dragged kicking into this latest paper she has written. Of course it's nobody's fault either even though she mentioned the Coroners service. MY Gosh can't anyone accept responsibility in that gang
Is it any wonder that the Child Death Review Manager finally quit the Coroner Service in disgust after considerable philosophical differences in trying to move Child Death Review forward in this province.
Even after Ted Hughes supported the direction of the manager he still could not get anything done. Child Death Review is still in limbo. I am sure Mr. Hughes would not be impressed.
When will the government wake up and take a look at the dysfunction at the Coroners Service?
In my view, the government is trying to tough it out. Gordon simply won't admit its a mess and the new position must be filled ASAP. Let's spin it for a few more days and see if everyone forgets is the idea.But people arn't going to forget. COme on Gordo get your head around that fact. The longer you stall the more kids get hurt and unreported.
Morley was giving a presentation on TV today. From what she said I got the impression she was calling for removal of kids from a place where a death occurred soon as some doubt of the original findings were unearthed. Seems the coroner didn't think the Indian care system was up to the job. So somebody asked Les if anyone was going to get fired. Oh no says the Solicitor General, Morley hadn't fingered anyone as to blame. What a load of BS. But then again a lot of what he says is and has been BS. Protect the kids, oh no protect your backsides is the rule.
They don't want to fire anyone becuase the fired person may bring forward other little problems in the so called system. Morley was getting dragged over the coals in the papers today but the child is still dead and the others were at great risk.
Ms. Morley has an article exclusive to the T/C this morning. She claims her report was not influenced in any way by the government and adrian Dix is wrong in saying they did influence her report. Now in her report even the folks who really screwed up arn't to be blamed, disiplined or fired,she lashes out at a MLA critic. If you are outsid the system she will dump on you. Come on Morley, you are part and parcel of the problem, we know it, you knjow it, but you deny deny, as kids are still at risk. One hopes this women is soon gone from the sytem
Ms. Morley is a lawyer and her thing is alternative dispute resolution. She had no prior experience (before becoming child and youth officer)in child protection, child fatality investigation, social work, forensic investigations or anything else. Her claim to fame is that she keeps getting invited to do reviews on these issues by government. It started with the Children's Commission and it just keeps going and going and going.
So the Chief Coroner thinks his only responsibility is to the dead. On the Coroners Service web site their mission statement states ....to improve community safety and quality of life. Also based on his attempts to manipulate Morleys conclusions in her report, I also find it interesting that two of the listed values of the Coroners Service are Integrity and Accountability.
Why aren't we questioning the Ministrys responsibility to provide child protection to all children regardless of race or ancestory? The province can delegate but not abdicate its authoirty in this role. In delegated agencies the hands off approach by the ministry for children and families simply adds another layer between the safety of the child and the investigative process. It is not a working policy with any record of success, why is it not being challenged?
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