Cover Our Butt

October 4, 2014 permalink

Instead of "How do we cover our butt?", the policy of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services should be "How do we do better for our children?", says Ontario child advocate Irwin Elman. The comment came up after the ministry censored a document titled: “Issues Management Plan — Inquest Into the Death of JB.” Neither the Toronto Star nor the child advocate are able to see the uncensored document.

The parts of the briefing notes that were not censored shed some light on the ministry’s reaction to the inquest, which include the creation of a “JB Inquest Management Strategy,” with the participation of at least five separate departments that worked on legal and communication issues, including regularly monitoring media coverage of the inquest.

The records also contain prepared media lines for communications staff, organized under subtitles such as “If asked why the Ministry didn’t seek standing” and “If asked why the Minister or Ministry wasn’t present.”

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Queen’s Park secretive about how it dealt with fallout from Jeffrey Baldwin inquest

Ministry should have a plan to “do better for our children,” not a “cover our butt” plan, says children’s advocate after the Star obtained heavily censored government documents related to inquest into 5-year-old’s death.

By: Jacques Gallant Staff Reporter, Published on Sat Oct 04 2014

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services is keeping secret key information on how it planned to handle the fallout of the coroner’s inquest looking into the death of 5-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin.

Briefing notes obtained by the Star related to the 2013-14 inquest include a document titled “Issues Management Plan — Inquest Into the Death of JB.” The information under subtitles such as “Concerns/Issues,” “Communications Objective(s)” and “Approach and Tactics” has been censored.

Irwin Elman, the provincial advocate for children and youth, and opposition critics told the Star the public has a right to know the secret details, saying they could offer insight into the ministry’s approach to coroner’s inquests and its thinking on how to improve the child protection system.

“The way things get attention often, in ministries, is whether it’s going to become an issue for the party in power,” said Elman. “Yet this is the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. This should be a ‘How do we do better for our children?’ plan, not a ‘How do we cover our butt?’ plan.”

“I think advice to the government, where it’s obviously about the child protection system, is something that we should all be able to hear,” said MPP Monique Taylor, the NDP’s children and youth services critic. “I’d be interested in seeing that portion, and I would commit to going to the minister and asking what exactly is in it.”

The Star obtained the documents through a freedom of information request. The ministry justified redacting some material by saying it was advice to the government and exempt under access to information laws.

Ministry spokesman David Mullock said Friday that redaction decisions are made by the ministry’s freedom of information staff and do not go to the minister’s office for approval.

The Star is appealing that decision to the information and privacy commissioner.

Jeffrey Baldwin died of starvation at the hands of his grandparents, Norman Kidman and Elva Bottineau, in 2002 after being placed in their care by the Catholic Children’s Aid Society. The CCAS has said it did not check its own files on Kidman and Bottineau before placing Jeffrey in their care, where he was kept inside a locked bedroom with almost no access to a toilet. He weighed 21 pounds when he died.

Bottineau and Kidman, who already had separate convictions for assault on their own children, were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2006.

The ministry was criticized for not seeking standing at the coroner’s inquest, despite the fact that it is ultimately responsible for the province’s child protection system. In fact, 49 of the inquest jury’s 104 non-binding recommendations were relevant to the ministry, including one that called on it to seek standing in future inquests dealing with the deaths of children in care.

The coroner’s counsel sent the ministry a letter in January 2013 asking if it wanted to seek standing at the inquest, but was told in August it would not.

At inquests, parties with standing can question witnesses. Jeffrey’s own grandmother and murderer sought standing about halfway through the proceedings, and spent one day on the witness stand.

Mullock said the ministry believed “the parties who had standing at the inquest were well positioned to present the relevant information and explore all issues.”

The ministry has said in the past that its staff was present in the inquest audience each day, and that it did send one witness to testify, although other parties with standing, including Elman, have complained the witness was not an upper-level civil servant and failed to answer many of their questions.

The parts of the briefing notes that were not censored shed some light on the ministry’s reaction to the inquest, which include the creation of a “JB Inquest Management Strategy,” with the participation of at least five separate departments that worked on legal and communication issues, including regularly monitoring media coverage of the inquest.

The records also contain prepared media lines for communications staff, organized under subtitles such as “If asked why the Ministry didn’t seek standing” and “If asked why the Minister or Ministry wasn’t present.”

The answers provided are exactly like those given by Mullock on Friday, as well as by then children and youth services minister Teresa Piruzza, who spoke to the Star after the inquest concluded in February and who did not attend the proceedings.

The ministry’s response to the Baldwin inquest has also left critics wondering if it will be any different when another inquest looking into a horrific child death begins, likely early next year.

Katelynn Sampson was 7 years old when she died in 2008, after being repeatedly beaten by her guardians, crack addicts who had been awarded custody by a family court judge. Donna Irving and boyfriend Warren Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

An inquest examining the circumstances of her death was announced two years ago. When asked if the ministry would seek standing there, Mullock would say only that a date has not yet been set for the inquest.

MPP Jim McDonell, children and youth services critic for the Progressive Conservatives, said there’s no question the ministry should be actively involved.

“If you’re really interested in getting to the bottom of things and making changes, you have to get involved and be there and question those witnesses about their own experiences,” he said. “That opportunity (with the Baldwin inquest) is missed now, and I hope they don’t do the same with Katelynn Sampson, or it will be another important learning experience gone.”

Source: Toronto Star

Fixcas has a copy of the coroner's jury recommendations for JB, Jeffrey Baldwin.

Elman explains his comment on Facebook:

Irwin Elman

October 4, 2014

Perhaps an incendiary comment but...I was referring to the 19000 plus serious occurrence reports the Ministry of Children and Youth receives every year re children in residential care. The ones that get noticed in my mind, that get to the top of the pile are those that might make it to the public. Then an "issue management plan" is created. We have asked for 3 months of serious occurrence reports to be sent to us. At this point they will be redacted. We will try to analyze them nevertheless. When Bill 8 passes we will move forward.

Source: Facebook, Irwin Elman