help

collapse

Press one of the expand buttons to see the full text of an article. Later press collapse to revert to the original form. The buttons below expand or collapse all articles.

expand

collapse

Adopt Or Else!

January 26, 2006 permalink

Child protectors in Alberta have been ordered to meet adoption quotas or lose pay.

expand

collapse

Adoption staff face fines over quotas

Child-welfare managers docked pay for missing targets: internal report

EDMONTON -- Child-welfare managers are being coerced by threats of lost wages if they don't meet quotas for placing children in adoptive homes, says a confidential internal government report obtained by The Journal.

The 54-page Children's Services report, A New Casework Practice Model, says some child-welfare managers have been financially penalized if they don't meet their adoption quota.

"It is somewhat unsavoury to link individual financial recompense to the adopting out of dependent children," the report states.

"This type of thinking does not engender permanency for children. If anything it may place them in a more vulnerable position, as breakdowns in adoption are more likely when there is pressure to rush adoptions."

The report, dated December 2005, was prepared by the Child Intervention Planning and Implementation Office of Children's Services. It was mistakenly e-mailed to a number of people within government. They were then told to delete the e-mail and were warned they would be reprimanded if they printed the document.

The report outlines how the work of child-welfare staff must be adjusted to meet the goals of the new Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act. The act came into effect in November 2004, replacing the Child Welfare Act.

See ADOPTION / A12

Source: Edmonton Journal

sequential