Alberta Foster Boy Dies

March 7, 2009 permalink

Doctors are in the process of removing life support from an Alberta boy injured in foster care. From the article below, and other news reports, the boy was nineteen months old, he started his second tour in foster care this January, his mother was 21 years old from the Tsuu T’ina Nation and the injury occurred in a foster home near Strathmore Alberta. Should this case come up again, we will identify the child as Baby Tsuu.

In recent years four Alberta children died anonymously. They are:

Readers with knowledge of these cases, especially the names, are invited to email Dufferin VOCA, [ rtmq at fixcas.com ].

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March 7, 2009

Injured foster kid to be taken off life support

Call for public inquiry of Alberta foster care

By DAVE DORMER AND KERRY DIOTTE, SUN MEDIA

The mother of a toddler who suffered life-threatening injuries while in foster care this week said doctors are expected to begin removing the boy from life support, possibly as early as today.

"If his heart stops then that's God's will, I'm just going to let it be," the boy's 21-year-old mother said yesterday at Alberta Children's hospital, where she has been holding a bedside vigil for the past five days. "I don't want to make him suffer."

Doctors gave the boy - who cannot be identified - an MRI yesterday, which the mother said should show how badly his brain is damaged.

"The left side of his brain is dead, a little bit of the right, front brain is dead too," said the mother. "If he does survive, he won't be normal, he's going to have some severe cerebral palsy."

The one-year-old boy was rushed to hospital on Monday after suffering massive head injuries while in foster care near Strathmore.

RCMP confirmed on Thursday they are investigating the incident, the same day the issue was raised in the provincial legislature by NDP MLA Rachel Notley.

The boy and his now two-year-old sister were temporarily removed from their mother's care in June 2008 by the ministry of Children and Youth Services, said their mother, who wasn't told anything about how the boy was injured.

Notley has called for a public inquiry into Alberta's foster care system, something the boy's mother said she would also like to see.

"I just want to find out what happened to my son," said the mother. "I trusted (Children and Youth Services) to look after him."

Notley said yesterday the provincial government must be more open and transparent when a foster child in its care dies or is badly injured.

She said provincial officials have insisted it's enough to detail serious incidents involving foster kids in annual reports but such reports have been tabled three years late.

DAVE.DORMER@SUNMEDIA.CA, KERRY.DIOTTE@SUNMEDIA.CA

Source: Edmonton Sun

Addendum: According to this follow-up story, the boy survived after removal of life support, but remains seriously crippled.

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Seriously hurt foster child can't find home

Last Updated: Friday, July 31, 2009 | 3:30 PM MT, CBC News

A child who was seriously hurt in foster care is ready to be released from hospital but a suitable home hasn't been found for the child, RCMP said Friday.

The boy, now 18 months old, requires foster parents who can look after him given his medical condition, said Sgt. Patrick Webb.

The child fell into a coma in March following an incident in Strathmore, 40 kilometres east of Calgary. The exact nature of the injury hasn't been made public.

After he was admitted to hospital, the child's mother told CBC News her son wasn't expected to live and that if he does survive, he will likely have severe brain damage.

Webb said the police investigation is continuing and no charges have been laid.

Alberta Children and Youth Services Minister Janis Tarchuk has ordered a special case review.

The province's child welfare legislation prohibits the identification of any child in foster care.

Source: CBC