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Punishment for Failure to Steal
December 30, 2006
No social worker has been prosecuted, or as far as we
know, even reprimanded, for causing the death of a child in
her care. But what about the other kind of problem, failing
to take enough children?
In the case below, the social services system exploits
the tragic death of a boy to inflict fear within its ranks.
Taking a child that is harmed within the foster care system
has no consequences, but failing to take a child can cost
you your job.
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Manager fired in baby’s death
Supervisor in Delaware had been alerted to possible
abuse
Friday, December 29, 2006
Dana Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
DELAWARE, Ohio — Delaware County officials fired a
Children Services supervisor yesterday for ignoring a
phone call about suspected abuse of an 11-month-old boy
who later died.
After an internal review, the county commissioners
decided that Lee Hayes’ inaction warranted ending her
job as intake supervisor.
The review focused on two anonymous calls made to
Children Services workers in November regarding possible
mistreatment of infant Nicholas Goodrich. The boy died
Dec. 12, and his mother’s boyfriend is accused of
killing him.
State and local officials are investigating how
Delaware and Franklin counties’ child-welfare agencies
handled complaints about Nicholas’ care before his
death. Franklin County Children Services yesterday
confirmed receiving three calls about the boy as well.
Hayes’ office in Delaware County forwarded the first
call about Nicholas to Franklin County authorities after
tracing the boy’s mother to a Columbus address through
welfare records.
But when the same caller followed up a week later,
saying the mother and child had moved to Delaware, Hayes
ignored the tip, Commissioner Jim Ward said.
That complaint should have been investigated
immediately, he said.
Hayes "was the supervisor, and it was her
responsibility that this sort of thing should never have
happened," Ward said. "She did not handle things
correctly."
Within weeks of the reported abuse, Nicholas died of
severe brain injuries. His mother, Rachel Ewers, 22, of
Delaware, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter,
and her live-in boyfriend, Raytone Wilson, 21, is charged
with aggravated murder.
A baby sitter said she called Children Services workers
in both counties with her suspicions of abuse before the
boy died.
Ward said it remains unclear why Hayes did not respond
after her office learned that Ewers was living in Delaware
County.
Ewers and her son lived in Franklin County before
moving to Delaware.
Hayes, 44, was placed on paid administrative leave
Tuesday. Her firing is effective today.
Hayes oversaw employees who receive calls and
investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect. She
has worked for the Delaware County Department of Job and
Family Services since 1992, and served as a supervisor
since 1998.
Her personnel records show praise for her overall
performance and no previous disciplinary problems.
Hayes’ attorney, Tony Heald, said his client will
consider appealing the commissioners’ decision to the
Ohio Department of Administrative Services.
Meanwhile, how the case was handled by child-welfare
officials in both counties remains under review by the
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Franklin County Children Services also is conducting
its own review of three calls it received regarding
Nicholas, as well as the referral from Delaware County,
said Eric Fenner, the agency’s deputy director.
"We are doing a very thorough, comprehensive review of
that entire episode," Fenner said. "We want to find out
exactly what happened and how it was handled."
Referrals of families who recently moved can sometimes
lead to confusion between agencies, Fenner said.
Mona Reilly, director of the Delaware County Department
of Job and Family Services, said her agency continues to
review its policies and procedures and likely will hire an
outside firm for further evaluation.
"We feel this is a very tragic occurrence for all
involved," Reilly said. "It is our job as a Children
Services protective agency to respond to children that are
in need and protect them, and we will continue to do our
best effort in that regard."
Information on Nicholas’ suspected abuse was given to
Hayes last month almost immediately after one of her
employees took the second call, Reilly said.
As intake supervisor, it was up to Hayes to review the
complaint and determine whether it required investigation,
Reilly said.
"We don’t really have a clear picture as to why she
did not respond," Reilly said.
Commissioner Kris Jordan said the internal review
revealed Hayes’ awareness of the situation.
"We found that there were things that weren’t done
and, unfortunately, that leads to us having to fire
somebody," Jordan said. "They should’ve sent somebody
out to visit the home and assess the complaint."
dwilson@dispatch.com
International Mom-Hunt
December 29, 2006
A woman used in vitro fertilization to initiate a
pregnancy. When groggy after birth, she consented to an
adoption, and revoked consent promptly on regaining her
faculties. The adoption went through anyway, and she lost
her kids. She has now taken them to the world's worst
refuge, Canada.
When you see a mother caring for two toddlers, call the
police!
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Abducted twins taken to Canada
Associated Press
Friday, December 29, 2006
CREDIT: Courtesy: www.missingkids.com
Police are searching for 17-month-old twins, who
have been reported missing in North Carolina. Tyler
and Holly, went out with their biological mother near
Durham and never returned.
CREDIT: Courtesy: www.missingkids.com
Police are searching for 17-month-old twins, who
have been reported missing in North Carolina. They
were last seen with their mother Allison Quets, 49,
had the twins through in vitro fertilization and was
entitled to monthly visits.
RALEIGH, North Carolina -- The RCMP and the FBI are now
involved in the search for a North Carolina woman.
She's believed to have taken the twin toddlers she had
given up for adoption and fled with them to Canada.
Authorities say 49-year-old Allison Lee Quets had
visitation rights as a part of a custody agreement with
the adoptive parents.
The custody order allowed her to take the children from
their adoptive home from December 22nd to the 24th, but
she never returned.
The F-B-I says an investigation indicates Quets crossed
the Canadian border with the twins on December 23rd.
It's not known where she's alleged to have entered
Canada.
A warrant for her arrest was issued Wednesday on
federal charges of international parental kidnapping.
The children, 17-month-old Tyler and Holly Needham,
lived in the Raleigh suburb of Apex with their adoptive
parents, Denise and Kevin Needham.
According to Quets's sister, the woman met the Needhams
through a friend, and had a change of heart with hours of
agreeing to the adoption.
She apparently begged to have her children back, but
the Needhams refused.
Child Find Canada is also reportedly involved in the
search.
Addendum: Police found the mom and twins in
Ottawa.
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U.S. woman wanted in abduction arrested in
Ottawa
The Ottawa Citizen
Saturday, December 30, 2006
OTTAWA -- Ottawa police have arrested an American woman
being sought on a Canada-wide warrant for allegedly
abducting her biological toddlers, who she had put up for
adoption after their birth.
Allison Lee Quets, 49, a Floridian who had been living
in North Carolina to be near the 18-month-old twins, was
arrested Friday night at a Centretown residence, police
said in a release.
The two children, Tyler and Holly Needham, were with her
and are now in custody of the Children's Aid Society.
Ms. Quets was to appear in court Saturday. Ms. Quets
was supposed to return the two to their adoptive parents,
Kevin and Denise Needham of Apex, North Carolina, on Dec.
24, after a two-day court-ordered visit.
Addendum: Two further articles give the
circumstances of the difficult pregnancy and birth that gave
rise to the adoption consent, quickly revoked. The legal
system was eager to exploit the mother's troubles by taking
her money, not so eager to correct the error by returning
her children.
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Mother Accused of Kidnapping Twins Had
'Given Up'
Created: Monday, 01 Jan 2007, 10:45 AM EST
Kidnapping Graphic (FOX8 Creative Services)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A biological mother accused of
kidnapping her 17-month-old twins from their adoptive
parents before they were found in Canada last week had
reached a breaking point after struggling to get them back
through the court system in Florida, her sister said.
"She's not a crazy, unstable person," said Gail Quets,
whose sister, Allison Lee Quets, 49, was arrested in
Canada on Friday. "She's a well-meaning, upright citizen
who was driven to the brink. I think she must have given
up and felt she couldn't get justice in the state of
Florida.
"I think she thought this was a last-ditch effort to
save her children."
Allison Lee Quets and the twins were found Friday night
when police in Ottawa, Canada, acted on a tip, the FBI
said in a statement early Saturday. The toddlers, Tyler
Lee and Holly Ann Needham, were placed in the custody of
Canadian Social Services.
Quets could face federal charges of international
parental kidnapping.
A custody agreement allowed Quets to take the children
for a brief visit Dec. 22-24, but authorities said she
never returned them. The FBI said an investigation
indicated Quets crossed the Canadian border with the twins
Dec. 23.
The children lived in the Raleigh suburb of Apex with
their adoptive parents, Denise and Kevin Needham, who
could not be reached for comment. Quets lived in Orlando,
Fla., but kept an apartment in Durham so she could see the
twins while she appealed the adoption.
Officials with the FBI Victim Witness program were
arranging for the adoptive parents to travel to Canada to
be with their children.
Allison Quets spent five days last week tucked away
with the twins at a bed and breakfast in Kingston,
Ontario.
Her sister said Saturday from her Kentucky home that
Quets probably thought she was doing the right thing for
the children, adding that she had been fighting for the
twins since just hours after she gave them up.
Allison Quets was married once for about 15 years, but
the marriage ended about a decade ago, Gail Quets said.
She has no other children and the father of the twins is a
sperm donor.
Quets, who conceived the twins through in-vitro
fertilization, became weak during her pregnancy from
hyperemesis, a severe form of nausea and vomiting. She
was fatigued and disoriented and gave her children up for
adoption just weeks after they were born, Gail Quets said,
adding that her sister almost immediately changed her mind
and attempted to get them back.
"She really is a smart and competent person," Gail
Quets said. "She was so disoriented by the disease she
suffered during pregnancy, she just wasn't her usual,
competent self."
She had the children just long enough to give them
their names.
The adoption is not yet final because of Quet's appeal,
which is why she had visitation rights.
Custody and parental rights issues will be determined
by authorities in Florida, the FBI said in a news
release.
Adoption experts say Quets has likely hurt her case for
reclaiming her children.
"It's getting a lot of attention because it is rare,"
said Adam Pertman, executive director of the New York
City-based Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. "It's
probably even more rare than divorced fathers snatching
their kids."
Quets should not have fled with the children, Pertman
said, but he added that the twins were most likely never
in danger.
"There was no evidence that she was going to hurt the
kids," he said. "There was evidence that she wanted to
parent the kids."
January 1, 2007
Mom won't be told where kids are
By CP
OTTAWA -- The Florida woman accused of abducting her
children and bringing them to Canada illegally will start
2007 in an Ottawa detention centre, not knowing if her
biological children are still in the country.
Allison Lee Quets, 49, who was taken into custody on
Friday, remains in the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre
and her Canadian lawyer said she will be there until at
least tomorrow, when courts are next in session.
Jeff Schroeder said that the Children's Aid Society,
which has been looking after the 17-month-old twins, has
told him that they will not be notifying Quets of her
children's return to the United States.
The twins' adoptive parents, who live in Durham, North
Carolina, were expected to be reunited with the children
over the New Year's weekend.
Quets's status has been in dispute since the day she
gave up her children for adoption in August 2005. Within
12 hours, she changed her mind and the fraternal twins, a
boy and a girl, have been at the heart of a custody battle
ever since.
"It's just been a very, very long, arduous legal
process," said Gail Quets by telephone from Lexington,
Kentucky, and added yesterday that her sister has spent
more than $400,000 US fighting for custody.
"She did everything that she possibly could, legally,
and she thought that the system was just ignoring her,"
she said.
In early December, the adoptive parents failed to bring
the children for a court-mandated visit with Quets, who
eventually got a court order to compel the adoptive family
to let her see them.
With the kids in tow, she drove into Canada on Dec.
23.
Government Opposes Bill 88
December 29, 2006
Monique Smith has replied to a
letter requesting support for bill 88, instead of the
neutered bill 165. Her response, apparently drafted by
the Ministry, maintains government support for bill 165.
The government's plans for children do not include mom and
dad.
Cell Phone Ban
December 29, 2006
Family courts routinely alter the record of court
hearings. Refer to the case
of Harry Kopyto or legislative testimony by Vernon Beck. Cell phones,
which can record audio and video, could expose these
alterations, causing court staff to demand their removal
from the courthouse. The article below shows efforts in Ft
Wayne Indiana to do so. The reporter is completely taken in
by the cover story, that the ban is to avoid disruptions by
ringtones and for security, such as protection of jurors
from having their picture taken. A skilled artist with a
notepad has been able to make pictures of jurors for
centuries, yet notepads have not been banned.
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Posted on Fri, Dec. 29, 2006
Cell ban set to hit courts
Rules cover all electronic devices
By Dionne Waugh
The Journal Gazette
Dean Musser Jr./The Journal Gazette
Starting Tuesday, cell phones, pagers and other
electronic devices will not be permitted in the
Courthouse or the Bud Meeks Justice Center.
They’re everywhere.
Some are covered in flowers or NASCAR emblems and they
come in various sizes from tiny in-the-ear pieces to thin
handhelds to the bulky models of yesteryear.
But come Tuesday, one place cell phones won’t be
allowed is inside Allen County’s courts. People won’t
even be allowed to take phones, pagers or other electronic
devices, into the buildings. The only exceptions to the
new rule will be for attorneys with court-issued
identification cards and county employees with their
proper county identification badges.
Signs have been up for about a month inside and around
the county’s four court buildings – the Allen County
Courthouse; the Bud Meeks Justice Center where
misdemeanor and traffic court is conducted; the Allen
County Juvenile Center; and the Courthouse Annex, which
is where the Small Claims Division is located – to give
people plenty of notice of the pending ban.
“Our building and courts across the country are
called temples of justice,” Allen Superior Judge Fran
Gull said. “The reason it’s akin to temples is
because of the solemnity of things going on. When you get
ring tones going off, inappropriate ones that we’ve all
been exposed to in elevators and the mall, it interferes
with what’s going on.
“It’s just been a real electronic nightmare that we
didn’t have to deal with even 10 years ago.”
In addition to disruption, the main reason behind the
ban is safety, judges have said, because people have been
using their phones to take pictures and videos of
attorneys, jurors, witnesses, victims and court
proceedings. Indiana law bars cameras from most
courtrooms.
Although people have asked, there will be no
exceptions, Gull said. The Board of Judges, which
includes all the superior and circuit court judges, makes
that decision, and so far has denied official requests
from the Allen County Courthouse Preservation Trust Board
of Directors as well as a local doctor who provides
services to the court.
Gull said the courts will make phones available to
people who need them, and if the need becomes great
enough, they will consider talking to the county
commissioners about adding more phone lines and installing
additional pay phones.
Unlike other court systems, such as the local federal
building, sheriff’s deputies will not hold anyone’s
cell phones at the front security station. They will tell
people to put them in their cars or they will not be
allowed in. That also applies to people who are dropped
off for court.
“We have no room to hold them,” Gull said. “We
get over 1,500 folks a day just in the Courthouse. That
doesn’t count the justice center, juvenile court or
small claims. There’s no way we could accommodate the
numbers of phones, cameras and electronic devices that
people carry.”
However, law enforcement officers, who are required to
check their gun in a lockbox with deputies, will likely be
able to store their cell phones there as well, Gull said.
The ban will not only affect people coming to court
hearings, but also groups that work daily within the
system, such as the Fort Wayne Police Department’s
Victim Assistance; the state Department of Child
Protective Services; and Court Appointed Special
Advocates, also known as CASA.
The groups say they understand the reasons behind the
ban and are just trying to find ways to work within it.
Victim Assistance Executive Director Lynnice Hamilton said
her organization will just have to plan better than they
do now to coordinate meeting victims at court.
“(Cell phones) were our only means of communication
with advocates who were out of the office in court,” she
said. “So (now) we either have to send someone down to
contact the advocate in court if there’s information
they need, or if there’s any sort of emergency for them
personally or for the office. But overall if you look at
the safety of victims and jurors, it’ll be well worth
it. We wouldn’t want anyone’s life to be at stake
because we’re being inconvenienced.”
Allen County CASA Director Rex McFarren said the ban
will affect several of their volunteers, who are not
considered county employees, if court runs behind
schedule.
“We have some (volunteers) who are retired and are
not on any major time schedule, (but) we do have a fair
amount who work full time and have the ability by flexible
schedule … to go to a court hearing because their
employers are very gracious,” he said. “When court
runs late, we’ve had volunteers who had to call and
reschedule. That would be a problem for them in that
vein, but I think for our volunteers we can probably be
able to find an office somewhere to use there at
court.”
The cell phone ban will also apply to the state
Department of Child Protective Services, which has made a
request to be exempt from the policy, said Michelle
Savieo, director of the Allen County Office for the
Department of Child Services.
But as an alternative, Child Services has already
worked out a plan with the family court judges to use a
landline phone if needed, she said.
“We do understand the importance of it. We not only
advocate for the safety of children, but also court
personnel as well,” said Savieo, who said her office has
55 caseworkers and about 20 are in the Courthouse at
different times on a given day.
Another side effect of the ban will be that visitors
will no longer be allowed to take pictures of the
Courthouse. Commercial photographers will have to
schedule photos after the Courthouse is closed for the
day.
Media cameras will be the only cameras allowed inside
the buildings during business hours, Gull said.
Though court security doesn’t anticipate any major
problems with implementing the ban Tuesday, Gull asks
people to be patient.
“Those that are complying with the ban are going to
be in line trying to get through security with those who
are aren’t aware of the ban, and those people are just
going to have to be patient,” she said, “and recognize
it’s a security measure and protection measure that we
would hope people appreciate.”
dwaugh@jg.net
Kids Boss Successful Mom
December 28, 2006
Here is a case of a mom who has raised three children
getting advice from a caseworker whose only knowledge
of motherhood comes from books. The caseworker does not
even follow her own dietary advice.
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I also think one of the biggest problems is the
education and experience (or lack thereof) of the social
workers. I find I want to burst out laughing at the SW
sitting at my kitchen table telling me tips on raising two
little boys. I have three grown children who didn't turn
out too bad, she is expecting her first child in two
months, and is young. I love it when they tell you about
all the healthy food you should be feeding them while
their 300lb butt is about to break my chair!! Everyone of
them are huge!! Why is that? When we went for visits 1pm
at the CAS offices, you should have seen the fast food
coming in the door. If I had of taken that they would
have written me up. They gave my daughter a lecture for
bringing hotdogs and giving them chocolate. They only
provide a microwave for cooking food. What the hell are
you supposed to cook?? Idiots. That's all I think.
Courthouse Overflow
December 28, 2006
The Orangeville Citizen does not admit it, but the woes
of Dufferin County in finding courthouse space are the
result of family law run amok. On civil court days, the
courthouse is empty, on criminal court days there is some
activity, on family court days the courthouse is packed and
it is impossible to park within two blocks. Cutting back on
unnecessary family interventions would be a cheaper way to
bring court space into line with demand.
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December 28, 2006
Province lays down law on courthouse
By WES KELLER Freelance Reporter
Dufferin Warden John Oosterhof, his successors in 2008
and 2009, and the largely new county council might be
facing difficult decisions during the early years of their
tenure, as the province has served an ultimatum on
courthouse space.
And, in other respects, the new warden says his aim in
the next year would be to complete two of “the jobs I
started when I was first warden (in 2005),” dealing with
waste management and planning.
But the biggest challenge, he said, is that the
province would like to take over the entire county
building – to provide not only more court space, but
also consultation room and lawyers’ offices.
“They won’t renew their lease (on existing space,
including the Provincial Offences offices and court space)
unless they can take over the building.”
So, he said, the county has to be prepared to move out
by mid- 2009.
If not, “it would mean that our county people would
have to go to Caledon (for such as parking and speeding
tickets).”
For several years, county council has been meeting in
the historic “county court.” Warden Oosterhof said the
province wants that practice to end. “For security
reasons, they won’t let us meet in the county court (now
Superior Court of Justice) after a certain time.”
On the good side of things, he said that if the
province takes over the building, the county could pay for
its own premises, a place of its own design, “at no net
cost to the taxpayer.”
But there has been no specific planning for such,
although county council did recently purchase another
house on Elizabeth Street.
Yet there is no set plan to build on the site of the
newly acquired house. “We have put out a request for
anyone to offer a location, whether it be a building or
vacant land. There is (no fixed plan of where to
move).”
Site selection might not be simple. Orangeville has
always been the county seat. Although it is the main
centre of population, the town is not the geographic
centre of the county. The warden didn’t say it, but
there is likely to be disagreement among councillors over
whether a new building should be in or at Orangeville, or
closer to Shelburne. Primrose, on county-owned property,
has been mentioned in the past.
Whatever the location, the county appears to have fewer
than three years in which to select a site, design a
building, and complete construction.
Also facing the new council, the county has been
planning to provide a waste disposal facility of some kind
but the county does not have waste management control.
“It’s going to be a challenge to get (waste
handling) organized when it gets down to the fact that the
county still has no control,” said the warden.
“I would like to see waste handled by the county. We
could make better deals (than can individual
municipalities), have a better quality of service, and
better prices.”
The province also appears poised to force countywide
planning, at least in a limited sense. This was one of
the issues that the warden, in his 2005 tenure, was
pushing. But the provincial push came later.
He said there are two ways in which over-all planning
has become an increasingly important issue since 2005:
Places to Grow legislation, and the gas tax.
“We have to have a plan showing how the gas tax
rebates are to be used. It has to be for issues of safety
and the environment, and how we intend to carry those
out.”
On Places to Grow, provincial officials recently let it
be known they wanted to deal with a county authority,
rather than with individual municipalities.
County council, meantime, has approved a plan to
discuss budgeting for a planning consultation function
within the Public Works department. It has not suggested
a countywide Official Plan.
Warden Oosterhof says such an OP would not detract from
the autonomy of individual municipalities. “It would
not take over all planning issues, but would deal with
(such as) source water protection and some general growth
issues.”
He said some counties have taken over all planning
issues, but Dufferin would not need to do so.
Tilson Boosts Services
December 26, 2006
ASHLEY GOODFELLOW/ The Banner
Funding boost
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Dufferin received a
funding boost of $25,000 from the federal government's
New Horizons for Seniors Program. The funding will help
the organization's Go Girls program, which matches
preteen girls with senior women mentors. Pictured here
are: (back row, from left): Nancy Urekar and Brenda
Stephen, co-presidents of the Canadian Federation of
University Women, and Neta Gear of Family Transition
Place; (front) Dufferin Caledon MP David Tilson and
BBBS Dufferin executive director Nancy Stallmach.
"At Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Dufferin we are
very excited to be receiving the New Horizons grant,"
said Stallmach. "We look forward to hearing from any
women who would like to make a difference by being a
sympathetic friend and positive role model."
The New Horizons for Seniors program provide grants
to support a range of community-based projects across
Canada that encourages seniors to contribute to their
communities through social participation and active
living. For information on the program visit
www.hrsdc.gc.ca; for information on BBBS visit
www.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/dufferin.
During his eleven years as Dufferin MPP, David Tilson
posed frequently for a published picture with CAS social
workers. Now as federal MP, he poses without CAS workers.
We hope this is because he has assessed that goodwill from
CAS will do him more harm than good, though we are disturbed
by the presence of Neta Gear of Family Transition Place
(FTP) in the picture. In the past, women taking shelter in
FTP have lost their children to Dufferin Children's Aid.
F21/03 Family Appeal
December 26, 2006
Anne Marsden has been following the plight of a Brantford
family, including sealing the fate of a baby even before its
birth. She has now addressed a plea
on behalf of the family. Since the family cannot be
named, we can only identify them by the warm cuddly name
F21/03. This material, created on Christmas eve, seemed too
depressing for Christmas day, so you can read it on Boxing
Day. Learn about the caseworker trained at Joey's Fish and
Chips.
Crown Wards Speak
December 25, 2006
The Adoption Show on Christmas eve interviewed three
former crown wards. You can link directly to the
interview (mp3) or the Adoption
Show. The program is just over two hours. The
individual interviews are:
- John Dunn, starts at 4:44. He tells the story of his
many foster homes, and his frustration at trying to find
records of his own life.
- Jessie McVicar, starts at 50:12. Jessie discloses that
he did not learn to read until he was a teenager. He
describes his experiences with wit and candor. His
parents tried to get help from social services, but CAS
defeated his parents in court and kept Jessie.
- Erika Klein, starts at 81:13. Erika and her daughter
both were stolen from their mothers after seeking help
from the social services system.
F4J Strikes Boston
December 25, 2006
Fathers-4-Justice has spread to Boston, Massachusetts, as
shown in this Google video clip of a WHDH TV newscast.
Police Harass F4J
December 23, 2006
Here is the latest police harassment of peaceful
demonstration, in this abridged report from Canada Court
Watch:
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Security at Newmarket, Ontario Courthouse
bully and threaten law abiding Canadian citizens!
(Dec 22, 2006) It was reported to Court Watch that on
Thursday, December 21, 2006, court security officers from
the Newmarket Court came outside of the court and
threatened members of the equal parenting group,
Fathers-4-Justice. Members of Fathers-4-Justice were
outside of the front entrance to the court and peacefully
obtaining signatures on a petition. The protesters had
signs on the grass to the side of the court entrance.
Fathers-4-Justice members were told to take their signs
down off public property. The one large sign read, "Put
father back in Christmas"
Court officers told the Fathers-4-Justice rep that
members of their group would be arrested for public
mischief if anyone inside the court complained about their
activities against the court system.
Although security officers allowed the demonstrators to
remain outside less their signs, when one of the
supporters for fathers-4-Justice attempted to enter the
public court building to simply use the washroom, he was
told that he was not allowed to enter the public court
building to use the washroom. Court security workers gave
the lame excuse that fathers-4-justice supporters might
hand out literature inside of the building.
Become a Prostitute!
December 21, 2006
A man employed by Ontario's social services, but not a
children's aid society, has been arrested for recruiting
prostitutes.
Here is a link to the Toronto Police Service report on Shahid Nazim
(pdf).
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December 21, 2006
Pimp charge for youth worker
Girl, 17, reports him to police
By CHRIS DOUCETTE -- Toronto Sun
A man who worked at a Toronto youth shelter helping
teens find jobs has been arrested and accused of trying to
persuade at least one young girl he worked with to become
a prostitute.
Toronto Police say the 38-year-old youth worker was
arrested Tuesday night after a complaint by a 17-year-old
girl who said the man had tried to recruit her into
prostitution.
And now investigators are trying to determine whether
any other girls were approached.
"This girl was strong enough, confident enough, ...
and street smart enough to know what she wanted, and this
wasn't it," Det.-Const. Eduardo Dizon, of the sex crimes
unit, said yesterday.
How many others?
"The question becomes how many other girls are out
there who had this question posed to them and said, "Maybe
it's not such a bad thing, given my situation,' " he said.
Dizon said the accused made multiple offers to the girl
to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for money and
other favours.
"It took tremendous courage for her to come forward,"
Dizon said. "But she recognizes the importance of coming
forward to bring the accused to justice, as well as to
encourage other women, girls, boys, or youths he may have
dealt with to come forward to police."
SEVERAL CHARGES
Shahid Nazim, of Toronto, is charged with procuring
illicit sex, attempting to procure a person to become a
prostitute and sexual exploitation.
Dizon said the accused had worked with youth at a
Toronto shelter until at least two weeks ago -- a position
he may have held for two years.
"His main role was to go around to the various other
shelters, including the one he worked at, to conduct job
training seminars or programs," Dizon said.
Nazim worked most recently at Humewood House, a shelter
for young mothers and pregnant teens at Bathurst St. and
St. Clair Ave.
Staff there were said to have been shocked upon hearing
he had been charged.
Anyone with information regarding Nazim is urged to
call Dizon at 416-808-7468, or Crime Stoppers anonymously
at 416-222-TIPS.
Shahid Nazim, 38.
From the website of 680news Toronto.
VOCA Service Interruption
December 21, 2006
The service interruption on this website December 20 and
21 was not the result of a hacker attack. To avoid being
shut down by CAS, this website is hosted outside of Canada,
necessitating some communication by the postal service, with
its delays and disruptions.
CAS Rewards Infanticide
December 19, 2006
Here is more on the case of Jody-Ann Lee, who killed one of her twins. Now after
being charged with homicide, she has been awarded visitation
with the surviving twin.
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Accused mom can visit surviving twin
Roberta Avery
Toronto Star
BARRIE–A woman charged with murdering her newborn
baby has regained the right to spend time with the child's
surviving twin.
"The baby's father is devastated," the man's Toronto
lawyer, Irving Solnik, said yesterday.
The 34-year-old Barrie woman was charged last month
with first-degree murder in the October 2005 death of her
newborn girl. She was later released on bail and a
publication ban imposed on many details of the case.
Police found the body of the dead girl a few days after
her birth and after Simcoe County Children's Aid Society
had taken the surviving twin boy into custody.
The mother was charged with neglecting to obtain
assistance in the delivery of a child and concealing the
body of a child, said Sgt. Dave Goodbrand of Barrie
Police Service.
It was widely reported that the infant's body was found
in a plastic bag in the trunk of a car.
The father was awarded interim custody and in October,
a family court gave the mother the right to make three
visits a week for three months. The visits were suspended
after she was charged with first-degree murder.
Then, late last week, a CAS worker advised the
surviving twin's father that the visitations were to
resume with the child's grandmother present. Solnik, who
represents the father in the custody battle, said he
couldn't discuss the case because of a family court order.
"My hands are tied," he said.
The father has serious concerns about the safety of his
now 1-year-old son, said Solnik, especially in light of
the recent infanticides of Serena Campione, 3, and her
sister Sophia, 1, who were found dead in their Barrie
apartment in October.
Frances Elaine Campione faces two counts of
first-degree murder in that case.
Dion Adopted Daughter
December 17, 2006
Here is yet another case of a person at the upper levels
of political power with an adoptive child. This time it is
the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Stéphane
Dion.
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Par Alexandre Gauthier
Article mis en ligne le 15 décembre 2006
Portrait of Stéphane Dion's family
according to the women in his life
Stéphane Dion with his wife Janine Krieber and their
daughter Jeanne. (Photo: Courtesy)
Beyond the well-known public personality of Stéphane
Dion is also a husband and a father as only those who are
near him really know. In an interview with his wife and
daughter, the true nature of this man is brought to the
spotlight.
A native of Alma, Janine Krieber met Stéphane Dion
during their studies. "He arrived in a rather ordinary
way, at a student party at Laval University in 1978," said
Krieber, noting that since then they have been together
and sealed their union in 1987.
Krieber reminisces that Dion, who enjoys walking, would
meet her at her parents place after a run in his jogging
clothes. However, he took care to bring in his knapsack
suitable clothing to go out with.
With time, she learned about his preferences. "He
adores nature, the forest and dining with friends," she
said. "He also reads a lot, likes fishing and cross
country skiing. He plays tennis and racquetball
especially when he was a professor. Now, he partakes in
physical exercise in the gym."
Jeanne's arrival
Among their plans, the couple wanted to have a child.
Janine and her husband went to Peru in 1988 to adopt a
girl, Jeanne. "The steps of international adoption are
extremely complicated since they are twinned with the
process of immigration and it lasted one year," she noted.
"Stéphane spent three months over there during this
period. The experience was very emotional."
Jeanne, 18, finished her collegial studies last June,
with a diploma in social sciences at CEGEP
Bois-de-Boulogne. She then worked on her father's
campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party of
Canada. "I took time to reflect following my studies,
while helping my father during the campaign," she said,
noting that "the joy of victory has passed."
Lives Transformed
The election of Stéphane Dion as leader of his
political party has affected the daily life of the family.
Jeanne considers that this new position has more impact
for her father.
"I try to not to make too big of it as if it were a
new job," she said noting that she does not often see her
father. "We succeeded in developing a friendly
relationship. We avoid quibbling so as not to waste the
time we spend together. Moreover, he has a unique sense
of humour, since he tells silly jokes, even in the
presence of my friends."
Teaching at the Royal Military College of Canada Fort
St-Jean Campus, Krieber took one semester of leave, in
order to reorganize her family life. Kreiber and her
daughter are not insensitive to criticisms of which
Stéphane Dion is sometimes victim, but they feel that in
general, people are nice.
"I am accustomed to and I respect the opinion of the
others," she said. "I have good humour, in particular for
the caricatures, because they are sometimes funny and make
me laugh."
The two women in the life of Stéphane Dion agree on
the fact that the voters of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville
gave Dion their confidence in the last election, despite
the scandal which surrounded the party. "People of the
county vote now for him more than for the party," said
Jeanne.
Patricia Bittar, who worked at the district office of
Dion from 2000 to 2004, spoke about the unity of the Dion
family. "I observed all the love and the affection that
Mr. Dion holds with his wife and his daughter," she said.
"He is a family man, who appreciates their support because
he could never do what he is doing without it, nor to go
where he has."
(Translated by Michael Beigleman)
"I met Stéphane at a student party at the university."
— Janine Krieber, wife of Stéphane Dion.
"My father has a unique sense of humour. He makes
silly jokes." — Jeanne Krieber-Dion, daughter of
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion with his wife Janine Krieber and their
daughter Jeanne. (Photo: Courtesy)
Stéphane Dion lived three months in Peru to adopt his
daughter Jeanne, who he carried around along with his
famous back bag. (Photo: Courtesy)
Falsely Accused Parent Exonerated
December 16, 2006
Here finally is exoneration for another parent falsely
accused by the discredited pathologist Dr Charles Smith, who
found parental homicide in many cases of blameless parents.
We dealt with Dr Smith earlier on June 13, 2005, September 12, 2005, September 13,
2005, September 21, 2005, and June 1, 2006.
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Justice for Jenna
Date: 2006-12-15
Author: Lance Anderson
A decade of emotion boils over as Brenda Waudby tightly
hugs her 17-year-old daughter. Tears of closure stream
down their faces as they come to terms with the dramatic
events that, just moments before, unfolded in a provincial
courtroom in Peterborough.
Ms Waudby has just heard a man plead guilty to
manslaughter for the 1997 death of her 21-month-old
daughter, Jenna Mellor.
"I just wanted to hear an admission of guilt. It's a
relief. It reiterates what I've known all along," Ms
Waudby says.
"It makes it concrete. Now I can just pick up the
pieces and I've got a lot to pick up...Life begins now."
Ms Waudby's strength holds her family together. She
grows quiet while reflecting on the past 10 years of her
life -- a roller coaster ride that once landed her in jail
for Jenna's murder. Over the years she's talked about her
life, her feelings and her resolve to find justice.
That culminated in a disturbing admittance of guilt on
Thursday by a 24-year-old man, who cannot be named under
the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 14 years old
at the time of the murder.
The man was charged by Peterborough police this time
last year with second-degree murder and two counts of
sexual assault related to Jenna's death in Jan. 22, 1997
at her Mountain Ash Road home. He pleaded guilty to the
lesser charge of manslaughter and had the sexual assault
charges withdrawn. He was released from custody and will
be sentenced on March 1.
• • •
Jenna's murder was unsolved for almost nine years
before Peterborough police made an arrest last December.
Their original investigation targeted Ms Waudby who was
charged with the girl's murder in September 1997. Those
charges were withdrawn following a difference in medical
opinion. The first pathologist, Dr. Charles Smith,
pinpointed the time of Jenna's death to when she was in
the care of Ms Waudby. Other doctors later debunked that
claim saying Jenna's injuries were sustained while she was
in the care of the babysitter.
Ms Waudby was released from custody and investigators
hit a wall. On Thursday, Court heard that in July 2001
Detective Sergeant Larry Charmley was assigned to the
case. He re-interviewed all witnesses and called on help
from outside agencies, including a child abuse specialist
in Seattle.
In July 2005, court heard an undercover operation
began, which eventually led to a confession by the
babysitter in November 2005.
"The accused became emotional...and stated he did
assault Jenna Mellor," Crown Attorney Brian Gilkinson told
court.
Mr. Gilkinson said the man admitted to punching Jenna
six times during the course of the night, adding the
punches to the stomach area were strong enough to break
ribs. Doctors said Jenna died as a result of blunt-force
trauma to her abdomen.
"I f***ing jabbed her a few times and started hitting
her," Mr. Gilkinson said as he read from notes taken
during the man's confession.
Mr. Gilkinson explained the assaults occurred
throughout the night and started shortly after Jenna was
left alone with the babysitter.
Mr. Gilkinson said the boy was angry over having to
look after Jenna.
As the confession was read out, Ms Waudby reached
behind her and clutched her older daughter's hand.
Justine Traynor, 17, was there that night when her sister
was killed.
"I put them to bed and brought her [Jenna] out because
she was crying," Mr. Gilkinson said as he continued to
read from the confession.
"I hit her down so she would stay down."
The disturbing details were too much for some people.
Two ladies walked out of the courtroom as others just
shook their heads in disbelief.
The accused's lawyer, Peter Copeland, agreed the facts
were accurate. The accused also agreed.
Mr. Copeland refused to comment when asked by This
Week after the proceeding.
Justice Robert Graydon agreed this was a "serious
violent offence" and to the guilty plea of manslaughter as
presented by both the Crown and defence.
He said sentencing will be handed down on March 1,
adding the man will be sentenced as a young offender.
• • •
The guilty man stood quietly in the courtroom
throughout the proceedings, saying very little.
But as he left, members of Ms Waudby's family said he
winked at Ms Waudby's mother-in-law, Faye Yelland.
Following this there was a disturbance outside of the
courtroom.
"You asshole," shouted a member of Ms Waudby's family
as the two families met in the hallway.
A security guard quickly defused the situation,
separating both families.
"I could have punched him right in the face," Ms
Yelland later said.
Darrin Peever, a close family friend, said it appeared
to family members the man showed no remorse for killing
the young girl.
"Karma is a bitch. It comes back to bite people in the
ass," he said.
Despite the tension, Mr. Peever admits there is some
closure for the family.
Tom Waudby, Ms Waudby's brother, agrees. He said it
was good to see a conviction, but doesn't think justice
has been served. He said watching the suspect walk out of
the courtroom proves there's a problem with the justice
system and believes the time he will serve will be "a
joke."
"But he has to live with it. It's on his soul for the
rest of his life," said Mr. Waudby.
Jenna's father, Randy Mellor, told This Week on
Thursday afternoon that he doesn't blame Jenna's killer
for what happened that fatal night. He said Jenna
shouldn't have been left alone with the 14-year-old boy.
Court heard Ms Waudby left Jenna with the boy to
babysit while she went out on the night of Jan. 22.
Mr. Mellor said he will never find closure or relief.
"I get people saying 'When am I going to move on?' I
say to them, 'Have you buried a kid lately?'"
More Support for Bill 88
December 16, 2006
Last month the Hamiltion media all reported on an audit
passed by the local Children's Aid Society. We ignored the
self-congratulatory item then, but John Dunn got a reply
published in the Hamilton Mountain News. Here are the
original article and John Dunn's reply:
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CAS sees strong results in Ministry
review
(Nov 24, 2006)
The results of a recent Ministry review confirm that
children in the permanent care of The Children's Aid
Society of Hamilton are being placed in appropriate
settings and are receiving effective services and supports
to address their needs.
In October 2006, the Ministry of Children and Youth
Services conducted a comprehensive review of 199 Crown
ward files and 12 adoption probation files, as required
under Section 66 or the Child & Family Services Act.
Overall, the Society achieved compliance ratings of 93 per
cent on the Crown ward files and 100 per cent on adoption
probation files.
"We are extremely pleased with the results of the
review," said Dominic Verticchio, Executive Director of
The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton. "These results
prove the effect of long-term sustained focus for
continuous improvement in the overall delivery of service
to children."
Crown ward findings are based on a review of a
Society's files, questionnaires completed by Crown wards
and client interviews. The review was conducted at the
Society's office from October 2-12, 2006. In addition to
legislative requirements, a review team audits the entire
case management of the wards ensuring that the Society is
providing services to meet the child's educational,
behavioural and treatment needs.
"This is testament of the dedication and hard work of
our staff to ensure high compliance with Ministry
standards, while managing the challenging day-to-day
responsibilities inherent in meeting the needs of children
in our care," said Mary Meyer, Director of Children's
Services, for the Society.
Currently there are 357 Crown wards in the care CAS
Hamilton.
If you care about rights of children,
support Bill 88
(Dec 15, 2006)
Re: CAS sees strong results in Ministry review
In the Nov. 24, 2006 article which discusses the
results of a recent Ministry review of the appropriateness
of placement of foster children in homes and adoption
probation settings the Ministry gives the agency rave
reviews.
What it fails to mention is how long in advance the
Ministry gives the agency to prepare for the review
(agency's selection of files for review by non-independant
Ministry Auditors), how Crown Wards were selected for
interviews (do they choose the ones who are upset or just
the well behaved and happy ones) and it does not mention
what appropriate services are being provided to those who
need them. (therapy and support vs. punishments and
labels).
The article goes on to state that the Ministry reviewed
199 Crown Ward files and 12 adoption probation files and
that overall the Society acheived compliance ratings of 93
percent on the Crown Ward files and 100 percent on the
adoption placement files. Compliance with what? Are the
public allowed to see these criterion? Who makes them?
People in the industry? Unfortunately due to extremely
high and often unwanted secrecy in child welfare,
information which would shock the public is kept secret,
locked away in record vaults such as serious occurance
reports, thousands of them which detail the daily abuses
that children and youth in foster care suffer while in
care.
They are so secretive that not only are the media, the
privacy commissioner and even at times the courts kept
from accessing them, but the actual current and former
foster children themselves are refused copies of their
files and offered "social histories" instead.
Please, if you care about the rights of children and
youth in foster care, support Bill 88, which is an attempt
to get the Ombudsman to have jurisdiction over CAS's
across the province. Something the Ministry has fought
tooth and nail over many years, especially the last year.
Can we hear from the Crown Wards themselves on this
review? Oh yeah, sorry folks, the media are not allowed
to identify them.... s. 45(8) Child and Family Services
Act.
John Dunn
Executive Director
The Foster Care Council of Canada
Ottawa
Abolish Christmas?
December 16, 2006
Judges who break up families are uncomfortable with the
celebration of Christmas. Under guise of tolerance, Judge
Marion Cohen has banished the Christmas tree from the public
space in her courthouse.
This move has nothing to do with religious tolerance.
Christmas is widely celebrated among non-Christians, for
example, in Japan. Celebrating the birth of a baby is
inoffensive.
Following the news article, we include an email relayed
by Canada Court Watch from a parent trying to organize
opposition to Judge Cohen's action.
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Kaitlin Toph protests outside the Ontario Provincial
courthouse on Friday.
|
Judge's Christmas tree ban triggers
protest
A Toronto judge is standing firm by her decision to
keep a Christmas tree out of her downtown courthouse
lobby, despite backlash from the public and objection from
Premier Dalton McGuinty.
Justice Marion Cohen's order caused one protester to
show up at the Jarvis Street courthouse Friday and display
her disgust.
Kaitlin Toph marched out front holding a placard that
read, "Mrs. Grinch, was it in the name of intolerance to
get rid of the Christmas tree? Shame on you. Merry
Christmas."
The tree now sits in an administrative corridor off to
the side.
"I am all for immigration and multiculturalism, no
problem with it whatsoever," Toph told CTV News. "I have
many friends who are from other cultures. They respect my
views and I respect theirs, but there is another way of
doing something like that.
"If they put a menorah or any other religious symbol, I
have no objection, but leave the Christmas tree alone."
Cohen ordered the tiny plastic tree removed earlier
this week, saying it's not an appropriate symbol to
non-Christians. In a letter to staff, she said courthouse
visitors are "confronted" with it, which makes them feel
"they are not part of this institution.''
Employees called the move stupid and insulting, saying
the tree has been a lobby staple for decades.
The story has triggered a flurry of angry responses
from CTV viewers and readers.
A number of Christmas trees are on full display inside
other public institutions, including at the Ontario
legislature, Toronto City Hall and at Nathan Phillips
Square. There are also trees inside the Old City Hall
courts.
Lawyers at the Jarvis Street courthouse were also upset
and puzzled. McGuinty slammed the judge's order, calling
it "unfortunate."
"I think it represents a misunderstanding of what we
are working so hard to build here in Ontario," he said.
There is currently no court or ministry policy that
addresses this particular situation. Attorney General
Michael Bryant said he'll be speaking to the chief of the
Ontario Court of Justice about creating one.
Cohen would not comment on camera.
The tree now sits in an administrative corridor off to
the side.
With a report from CTV's Chris Eby
Here is a reaction:
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| From: |
Zorro kidshelp@cogeco.ca |
| Sent: |
December 14, 2006 8:30 PM |
| To: |
EPOC |
| Subject: |
Christmas Tree controversy |
CTV is having a poll regarding the right of Judge
Marion Cohen to have a Christmas Tree removed from the 311
Jarvis St. court.
Please, go to www.toronto.ctv.ca, scroll down to about the middle
of the page and in the right hand side there is a poll,
which by now is starting to show an overwhelming amount of
support (97%) for having the tree.
Marian Cohen is one of the worst, radical feminist,
foam in the mouth, judges around. By her actions she is
passing the message to the parents attending court that it
is OK to be intolerant. The wrong message to people who
are trying to find the best interests of children.
If you are interested in participating in a
demonstration in front of the court to bring the tree
back, please send a message to kidshelp@cogeco.ca
The rally will be on Monday or Friday of next week,
depending on how the situation develops. It is said that
the Attorney General is calling for the chief judge to set
the standard and the tree may go back sooner in which case
it would blow up the purpose of our demonstration.
If anybody is scheduled to be in front of her next
week, we would like to know.
Regards, Zorro
CAS Stick-up
December 15, 2006
Here is another article about a children's aid society
overspending its budget. That puts the province in the
position of covering the deficit or allowing foster children
to starve. The province always comes up with the money.
Sadly, CAS has to intervene in more families to justify the
higher budget.
In the article notice the "$800,000 to build new offices,
mostly for supervisors, to provide more private space to
deal with cases". Sorry, supervisors do not deal with
cases, that is for caseworkers. Supervisors are the ones
with the SUV's and Caribbean vacations.
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CAS faces $3.5M budget deficit
Second consecutive shortfall blamed on hiring
additional staff, office construction costs
Craig Pearson
Windsor Star
Friday, December 15, 2006
The Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society is facing a
$3.5-million deficit this fiscal year largely as a result
of increased hiring to help reduce workers' caseloads, the
agency's executive director said Thursday.
"It's not uncommon in child welfare to have a deficit,"
Bill Bevan said. "Historically, we were one of the
agencies that often was quite balanced when the rest of
the field was in deficits."
It marks the second deficit in a row. Last year's
shortfall was $3.3-million.
"Historically we've had some higher caseloads for our
staff," Bevan said. "They really wanted to see that
change. So we've answered the bell on that."
Bevan said that over the last two years the CAS created
22 new positions, mostly in the recently developed Family
Well-being Program -- which cost $1.1 million to start and
which is designed to help keep more children with their
families. The society also spent $800,000 to build new
offices, mostly for supervisors, to provide more private
space to deal with cases.
The idea, Bevan said, is to have more workers helping
families so that the number of children in care drops --
which in the long run reduces lodging and legal costs,
among other expenses.
"We feel we'll spend less and can work toward having a
balanced budget again," Bevan said. "But we'll need to
work with the government and get this year's fiscal
dollars covered."
Bevan said another issue is the amount of funding his
agency has received, which he thinks could be higher. He
says his agency spends the provincial average, given the
caseload and the 400 full- and part-time workers employed
there. The current budget of $48.5 million will, however,
end up being about $52 million.
In 2004 and 2005, the local Children's Aid Society had
an average of more than 800 children in care. Bevan said
that by the end of the year, it is expected to average
727.
"We have a 10 per cent reduction happening with our
kids in care over the last two years," Bevan said. "So
it's fantastic."
Anne Machowski, spokeswoman for the Ministry of
Children and Youth Services, said the government will
continue monitoring all budget overruns but does not see a
need for any special review in Windsor.
"While we recognize that some CAS's have spent above
their funding model eligibility in past years, the
ministry has resolved those deficits," Machowski said.
"These are difficult decisions based in large part on our
desire to ensure continuity of service to children who
require care and protection."
The ministry will spend more than $1.3 billion this
fiscal year, which ends in March. Last year, it provided
$63 million extra to cover deficits across the province.
The government allows certain deficits if Children's Aid
societies do such things as increase the number of
adoptions, increase the use of family-based care and
implement mediation and alternative dispute resolution.
CAS Critic Attacks Allies
December 15, 2006
Jessie McVicar, better known by his screen name
bizzi, has turned on his friends. He has put messages
on his own website attacking most other CAS opponents in
Ontario. He has put a series of messages on the Sarnia
Smoking Gun threatening to bring that board down the
same way as the Canada Court Watch board.
Mr McVicar was a crown ward himself, and later had
his own son taken by children's aid and placed for
adoption. We regret that he has taken to attacking his
allies. We warn other CAS critics to be careful, and
hope Mr McVicar will redirect his anger toward CAS, not
his friends and allies.
We also note that the Canada Court Watch site went
down completely overnight.
Why Chambers Stays
December 14, 2006
The Orangeville Citizen suggests a reason for keeping Mary
Anne Chambers in the cabinet - skin color. Our children are
being sacrificed to an inept minister for affirmative action.
In the article below, we omit sections not relating to Mrs
Chambers.
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Columns December 14, 2006
Queen’s Park
Weakest ministers challenging McGuinty
Eric Dowd
Premier Dalton McGuinty now knows for sure who his two
weakest ministers are, but it is not certain how much he
can do about it.
Children and youth services minister Mary Anne Chambers
put herself very much in the running when she provided one
of the feeblest defences by a minister on a key issue in
memory.
She was asked to explain why some children’s aid
societies have failed to help needy children, while
wasting millions of dollars on luxuries for their staff.
Chambers replied she could not discuss the failings
because they were described in a report by the auditor
general that had not been released formally in the
legislature and she kept repeating that as if she were
announcing which trains were leaving which platforms in a
railway station.
But McGuinty’s government every day leaks policies to
news media before presenting them in the legislature,
hoping to get them reported twice, once when leaked and
again when officially announced. No government has leaked
more, so it is bizarre it would ask not to discuss the
issue to respect the legislature.
Chambers also kept saying that she was proud the
McGuinty government eventually would reveal the problem,
and when opponents pointed out that it constantly
volunteers information on less crucial issues, such as how
many eggs the province produces, objected huffily to
vulnerable children being compared to eggs.
[omissions relating to Harinder Takhar]
McGuinty might feel that he would like to get rid of
both ministers, but he is in a quandary because the other
link they have is that both happen to be members of
visible minority groups. Chambers came from Jamaica and
Takhar from Punjab. To be fair, both also have made
considerable marks in life outside politics.
If McGuinty were to drop either, the minorities to
which they belong would be offended. They also are the
only representatives of visible minorities in his cabinet.
Parties like to have representatives of visible
minorities among their elected members and cabinets to
show that they have support among them and promote some to
their inner circles.
In recent years, being in a visible minority and
elected to the legislature has been almost, but not quite,
a passport to cabinet.
[omissions relating to other minority ministers]
Chambers Got it Wrong
December 14, 2006
On November 30, 2006 Mary Anne Chambers answered
questions in the Ontario legislature about the Auditor
General's disclosure of fiscal waste within children's aid
societies. Several times she cited the same point in her
defense. Her government had enabled the auditor to make the
report, allowing the deficiencies to come to public view.
In previous governments, there had been no audit, keeping
the deficiencies under wraps.
In answer to a question from Howard Hampton, leader of
the NDP, Mrs Chambers said:
Here is why the leader of the third party shouldn't
really be so proud of being around this place for such a
long time: In all of the time that he has been here, he
did nothing. He did nothing to shine the light on what
kinds of services our vulnerable children and youth are
receiving in this province.
Our government, the McGuinty government, is the
government that expanded the powers of the Auditor General
so that the Auditor General could help us take good care
of vulnerable children and youth. You have nothing to
feel proud about. You have been around here for too long
doing nothing. We're the ones who are acting. You're
just going to have to accept that.
From 1990 to 1995 Ontario had a majority NDP government,
Mr Hampton's party. We have obtained photocopies of a
document titled 1994 Annual Report, Office of the
Provincial Auditor, Accounting, Accountability, Value for
Money. Here are pages 26-37
(8 megabytes, pdf), giving a report on children's aid for
the years 1990 to 1993. Mrs Chambers statement was wrong,
and she owes a correction to the legislature, and the people
of Ontario (to say nothing of Mr Hampton). How long will we
have to wait?
Teen Escapes CAS
December 13, 2006
The following article reports on an apparently successful
escape from Children's Aid by a Brantford teenager. The
photo with the article shows an attractive girl. In order
to protect her from snitches, we will not reproduce it
here.
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15-year-old has been missing for weeks
Police are asking for the public's help in locating a
missing 15-year-old girl.
Brandi Stewart-Sperry, a ward of the Children's Aid
Society, left a William Street group home in Brantford on
Nov. 14. She has not been seen since.
Brandi is about five-feet, five-inches, weighs 125
pounds, with brown, shoulder length hair and brown eyes.
She occasionally wears black square framed eye glasses.
She may be in the company of family members in
Hamilton, and police are concerned for her well-being.
Anyone with information concerning Brandi's whereabouts
is asked to call police. In Brantford, call 519-756-0113.
New Discussion Board
December 13, 2006
The Canada Court Watch discussion board was shut down on
November 27. Until its repair, we can suggest another open
discussion board as a substitute, the Sarnia Smoking Gun.
Here are links to the home page and CAS discussion:
First Nation Boots Out CAS
December 13, 2006
The Wahgoshig First Nation has barred the Timmins and
District Children's Aid Society from his territory, as a
means of protecting its children. Is there any chance the
Province of Ontario will extend the same privilege to the
other people of Ontario?
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NAN supports Wahgoshig's demand for
recognition of First Nation child and family service
THUNDER BAY, ON, Dec. 12 /CNW/ - Nishnawbe Aski Nation
(NAN) Grand Chief Stan Beardy says given the inherent
right to self-governance, First Nation child and family
service agencies, specifically Timmins based Kunuwanimano,
should be recognized as the primary service for First
Nations rather than the Government of Ontario's Children's
Aid Society (CAS).
"The most recent practice of CAS brings back many
memories of the 'Sixties Scoop' not only for those
directly involved, but for the community of Wahgoshig and
the First Nations of NAN as a whole," said NAN Grand Chief
Stan Beardy. "Without proper recognition of First Nation
child and family service agencies as the ideal and primary
service, First Nations across Ontario will continue to
feel victimized as a result of history seeming to repeat
itself."
After a public retrieval of an infant by two workers
from Timmins and District Children's Aid Society and City
Police at a Timmins shopping centre last week, Wahgoshig
First Nation (one of NAN's 49 First Nation communities)
declared Friday the community is restricting CAS and
Ministry of Youth Services from entering the
community.
"We are losing our children to a system that does not
belong to us," said Wahgoshig First Nation Chief Dave
Babin adding this is an issue that must be addressed
throughout the North. "Ideally all First Nations should
be governed by a First Nation Child and Family Service not
a government CAS. If it is a case of a First Nation then
it should be handled by a First Nation organization."
Kunuwanimano is a First Nation Child and Family Service
Agency serving 11 of NAN's 49 First Nation communities.
It operates out of Timmins, Ontario.
The "Sixties Scoop" refers to a period between the
1960s and 1980s where a documented 17,000 First Nation
children were taken from their homes to be adopted by
non-native families across Canada, United States of
America, and Europe. Wahgoshig Chief Babin considers this
period an attempt at genocide and is seeking reparation
under the Genocide Convention Act (1949), including
establishing a national inquiry to investigate policy and
period purpose.
Babin says one of his community's objectives is to
negotiate with the Ministry of Youth Services, however
Wahgoshig First Nation will be closed to them and CAS
until Kunuwanimano is designated and CAS adheres to its
workplan.
Wahgoshig First Nation together with Kunuwanimano Child
and Family Services will host a news conference at the
Wahgoshig band office tomorrow.
For further information: Jenna Young, Director of
Communications - Nishnawbe Aski Nation, (807) 625-4952;
OR Wahgoshig First Nation Chief Dave Babin at (705)
273-2055 or (705) 262-2770
Addendum: The subject came up in the Ontario
legislature. Here are some questions by Andrea Horwath and clueless answers by
Mary Anne Chambers.
Finck Denied Parole
December 13, 2006
Larry Finck,
the father in the Halifax police standoff of May 2004, has
been denied parole again. Apparently he still does now
acknowledge his crime in defending his baby daughter from
seizure by the Province of Nova Scotia.
Lawyers Sell Out Parents
December 11, 2006
Anne Marsden reports from her own advocacy experience
that lawyers sell out their clients in child protection
cases.
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THE AUDITOR$ The Canadian Family
Watchdog For information call
(905) 639-5684
1425 Ghent Avenue, Suite 308, Burlington,
Ontario, Canada L7S 1X5
"LEGAL AID IS PERHAPS THE
SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT MECHANISM WE HAVE TO TURN THE
DREAM OF EQUAL RIGHTS INTO A REALITY"
(Quote from the Report of the Chief Justice of Ontario
upon the opening of the courts of Ontario for 2006)
By Anne Marsden
If this is a true statement as one would expect it to
be coming from the Chief Justice responsible for the
operation of our courts then Legal Aid surely has a means
of dealing with those lawyers who turn the dream into a
nightmare. Our audits show that a legal aid lawyer Birkin
Culp of Lefebvre and Lefebvre consented to his client's
daughter remaining in care without such instruction from
his client. A privately paid lawyer, Mark Kakkainen, a
publicly paid Ontario Childrens Lawyer -Sandra Hams -and a
publicly paid Brantford CAS lawyer were also part of the
consent process that has no lawful place in family court
in Ontario.
The child was the subject of a TCA (temporary care
agreement) signed December 5, 2002 by mom. The CAS failed
to obtain the consent of dad who had equal custodial
rights and responsibilities. However, the court and the
lawyers involved refused to act on the evidence brought
before the court that the child was in care without lawful
authority given there was no consent from dad. Instead
the judge, Mr. Justice Edward, now the administrative
judge for Brantford Family Court "strongly suggested" in
his endorsement of January 30, 2003 that the Brantford CAS
bring in a protection application and so this very
expensive court process to isolate this child from her
family and place her for adoption began.
The Child and Family Services Act requires a
Temporary Care and Custody Hearing to be completed within
35 days of apprehension, which in this case was February
3,2003, and a consent order is prohibited except in the
best interests of the child. But our audit shows that did
not stop the court allowing the lawyers to consent without
a confirming consent from the parties and dispensing with
a legislated Temporary Care and Custody hearing. There
has not been a single trial in this matter where parents
were given an opportunity to present the facts and have a
judge listen and determine what the truth was.
Evidentiary standards and their use in a court process as
taught in our law schools have had absolutely no place in
this matter.
The CAS are bound by the Child and Family Services
Act to ensure parents are listened to and heard.
There are many including the Honourable Children's
Minister and the Ontario Childrens Lawyer who know this is
not the case for this Brantford family who have often
times not been served papers and thus were barred from the
court room on many occasions. Further, bringing some of
the very concerning matters involving the courts action to
the attention of the Senior Regional Justice has not
provided any accountability for the use of court and child
protection resources in this manner -the child remains
isolated, the family devastated and the public continue to
foot an unnecessary and very expensive court resources and
legal aid bill.
Yes, legal aid can make a difference in levelling the
justice playing field but it is our experience that when
it comes to CAS matters it is very rarely the case. We
have had success in ensuring truth reigned and justice was
served when those seeking our help were able to use the
services of Mr. Ian Mang. However, he cannot take on
every case and parents should be able to expect the same
service from every lawyer no matter who they are and how
they are paid. Our courts are reputedly about the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So why are
those responsible for accountability within the court
system not acting on the audit results. If the media
began posing this question to those responsible including
the Minister, the Attorney General and the Chief Justice
perhaps the dream the Chief Justice talks about could well
become reality. We hope and pray that day is soon so
child protection and court resources that are presently
being squandered for want of a better word, can be used
where they will do the job they are supposed to be doing
protecting children from those who would harm them.
A December 10, 2006 Auditors Publication
Smug, Sanctimonious and Impervious to
Criticism
December 11, 2006
Christie Blatchford's weekend article deals with the
excuses for the mismanagement by CAS of money and foster
children. She has not yet dealt with the biggest form of
mismanagement, taking children from good homes.
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POSTED ON 09/12/06
CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETIES
Kids always come first? Not likely
Accountability, in all its trying forms -- now that's a
lesson child-welfare agencies need to learn
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
A wonderful Toronto cop I know sent me a note a couple
of days ago; he was one of the officers involved in the
Jordan Heikamp investigation, Jordan being the baby who
quietly starved to death on July 23, 1997, while under the
ostensible protection of the Catholic Children's Aid
Society of Toronto.
"I see by the news," he wrote of the provincial
Auditor-General's recent first-ever report on the
performance of children's aid societies, "that the average
response time is 21 days to a child at risk.
"Twenty-one days? Funny, that's exactly how long it
took for Jordan to die."
Actually, it took him 25 days, the time he spent at a
native women's shelter called Anduhyan, which was used as
a collateral resource for the CCAS and where none of the
half-dozen female staff noticed a thing awry. The CCAS
worker herself saw baby Jordan, identified as being at
risk from his then-homeless teen mother, only once in all
that time.
He died early on the morning of his 36th day on Earth,
a skeletal ruin of a child. The officer's rage was
palpable. Mine is, too. So is it for a lot of us who,
over the past decade, have written about children who died
lonely and frightened while in the charge of one or
another of this country's children's aid societies and
about the paid professionals who failed them.
For the record, what Jim McCarter, the Ontario
Auditor-General, was doing was conducting a
"value-for-money" review of four agencies. Given his
mandate, what Mr. McCarter found was a catalogue of
sloppy spending practices, inadequate documentation for
bills and contracts, and at least one example of a dishy
deal or two with senior agency executives.
The agencies, and the organization that often speaks in
unison with them, the Ontario Association of Children's
Aid Societies, were quick to react, as well they might be,
since they were given the report long before it was
released publicly.
Carolyn Buck, the head of the Toronto CAS, was later
flushed out as being the anonymous executive with the nice
SUV that the A-G reported on. She was actually huffy
about the A-G's criticism of car-detailing expenditures:
It wasn't what it seems, she told the Toronto Star, the
vehicle was being cleaned after caseworkers had used it to
transport poor wee children who were sometimes sick to
their tummies.
Well, you know what, Buckeroo? Perhaps if you and
yours had submitted proper documentation, the way the rest
of us do, that nasty misapprehension could have been
avoided.
Ms. Buck wouldn't confirm whether she was also the
executive with the $4,600 a year gym-and-personal-trainer
package, in addition to her $158,000 salary, but she was
sufficiently defensive about it that a betting woman might
think she is.
Releasing that kind of detail, she snipped, "is beyond
realistic. I'd like the public to understand that we pay
very careful attention to how we spend our money here. We
put the needs of children first all the time."
Not bloody so: That was the whole point of Mr.
McCarter's findings, in fact. The agencies stand accused
of paying scant attention to how they spend public money
and furthermore, Mr. McCarter said, they are doing a
rather lousy job of protecting children -- and he didn't
even mention the dead.
Same story with the Peel CAS, revealed as the one
criticized by the A-G for what the auditor called
"questionable" trips to the Caribbean to repatriate
children with their biological families. Why, those
inclusive packages were the cheapest available, executive
director Paul Zarnke sniffed this week; the workers spent
a few days there to make sure the child was safe. This
information wasn't in the books that the auditor saw, and
Mr. Zarnke pledged to improve the paperwork but was
unrepentant about the cost or the decision-making.
Children's aid societies, after all, in their formal
response to Mr. McCarter's recommendations, agreed that
"original receipts" might be useful things to submit with
expenses -- this, they had to be told?
But the people who manage social workers and run these
agencies have been like this forever -- smug,
sanctimonious and impervious to criticism. For years,
they have explained their various failures -- and these
failures, remember, involve dead children -- by citing
overwork, understaffing, underfunding, and, during the
years of the Mike Harris Conservatives in Ontario, even
politics.
This, it turns out, was the finest service Mr.
McCarter's audit provided; he exposes this as a lie.
Child-welfare agencies' budgets have more than doubled
since 1998-99, he said, but caseloads have increased by
only 40 per cent -- so basically, and these are my words,
the agencies are doing less with more.
Some real-life examples?
Mr. McCarter found that in a third of cases where a
child should have been seen within 12 hours or seven days
-- this because the child was deemed to be in danger --
visits were late by an average of 21 days (thus, the
figure my policeman pal cited); some plans of service
were 300 days late; in one case, a visit was never made
because it took the caseworker 19 days to call and the
family had moved; in another, a child was finally seen
only after his aunt and school principal called the agency
again, by which time he'd been beaten by his mother.
Oh, well.
Every time a child dies in this country while
"receiving services," as the CAS lingo has it, the story
unfolds in a variant of the same way. There is, first,
either a refusal to comment (citing privacy regulations);
there is much head-shaking about the dangers of
"finger-pointing" and "the blame game" and much pissing
and moaning about overwork; there is evasion,
public-relations spinning and protestations that change
already has occurred, or soon will.
Enough.
I think a good start -- learning the lessons of
accountability in all its trying forms -- might be to
round up the social worker, the supervisor and the
executive director who took so long to see that little boy
that his principal and aunt had to call the society again.
I think they should all have to see the boy, and explain
to him why it is that, in the absence of any action on
their part, his mother had the chance to beat him.
I don't know which agency it is, but I do know of a
nice SUV they could use, so that they could go together to
the boy's home, in some comfort. Oh, and keep the gas
receipt.
cblatchford@globeandmail.ca
Addendum: A reply:
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| From: |
"The Auditors" <watching@cogeco.ca> |
| To: |
<cblatchford@globeandmail.ca> |
| CC: |
<letters@globeandmail.com> |
| Subject: |
there's the other side of non-accountability too!
|
| Date: |
Sun, 10 Dec 2006 21:14:04 -0500 |
Dear Ms. Blatchford,
The number of resources we see the Children's Aid
Society using to keep children in care who should never
have been there in the first place is the other side of
the non-accountability story. The courts, judges and
lawyers are part of that non-accountability story too. We
have one case in Small Claims Court at Brantford right now
trying to get the accountability we cannot get through the
Family Court. In either the Ontario Court or the Ontario
Superior Court of Justice. Those resources that are spent
isolating children from their family without cause should
be going to protecting children who need protecting. When
is this story of non-accountability going to be told.
When is the impact of these resources being unnecessarily
utilized going to be covered.
We have lots of material from our audits some of it
very, very current but nobody wants to hear it. One of
the first cases I got involved in from Milton Halton CAS
had the swat team in family court and it was reported on
the national page of the Globe and Mail. The Globe and
Mail never followed up on the outcome - why? The outcome
showed how unnecessary it was 1. for the young girl to be
in the care of the CAS - she was released back to her
parents 2. there was absolutely no necessity for a swat
team or any kind of security to be in family court. The
Brantford CAS were supported by the Halton CAS Legal
Counsel Megan Pallett and the ex Legal Counsel David
McKenzie recently in an affidavit put before the Brantford
court that denied this ever happened. That`s what happens
when our media fails to follow through and support
accountability for CAS behaviour.
Anne Marsden
Audit Manager
The Auditors
The Canadian Family Watchdog
308 - 1425 Ghent Avenue
Burlington Ontario L7S 1X5
OACAS Wants Cole!
December 9, 2006
The OACAS has posted
a picture of Cole Norris on a wanted poster on its home
page. Based on previous experience, as with Jessie McVicar, Cole can
expect a police SWAT team to arrest him when he is
found.
The same page links to the OACAS response to the Auditor
General's criticism. Their suggestions are futile, since
problems originating with CAS management cannot be corrected
by better supervision of subordinates and contractors.
Addendum: Cole Norris was removed from the OACAS
homepage on or before December 15, 2006.
Creative Lying 101
December 9, 2006
During the trial of Jeffrey Baldwin's killers, Toronto
CCAS stonewalled the prosecutor, refusing to provide
documents or allow social workers to testify in court,
especially Margarita Quintana. They also refused to allow a
retired police investigator, Mike Davis, to see documents or
interview social workers. Below responding to an opinion by Rosie DiManno, Mary
McConville, executive director of CCAS, claims that her
society co-operated fully with all requests for information
from both the police and Crown. Here are links to four
earlier stories reporting the intransigence of CCAS:
Christie Blatchford
October 2005 and November 2005 and
Peter Brieger and Pulse24 news June 2006. As
for "accepting responsibility", they sent two of their
contractors to jail, but none of the social workers
responsible for Jeffrey's welfare have received even a
reprimand.
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CCAS accepted responsibility
Dec. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM
Minding the minders
Column, Dec. 6.
Children's aid societies welcome any improvements that
will ensure the protection and well-being of children in
Ontario and we will work closely with the government and
with the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies
to respond to the Auditor General's findings.
In its call to have CASs accountable to the public they
serve, the paper refers to the tragic death of Jeffrey
Baldwin, asserting that for the Catholic Children's Aid
Society, "there was no reckoning."
The Catholic Children's Aid Society has publicly
accepted responsibility and regret for its role in
Jeffrey's death, taking swift action to improve its
protection practices — practices that have now been
replicated by all Ontario CASs. The society has also
stated that it will co-operate fully with the coroner in
the inquest into Jeffrey's tragic death. The society
co-operated fully with all requests for information from
both the police and Crown. So much so, that the society
took the unusual step of appearing before Justice David
Watt in order to demonstrate that every request made was
complied with in a thorough and timely manner.
Children's aid societies will continue to improve their
capacity to protect children and to deliver services
effectively, efficiently and responsibly
Mary A. McConville, Executive Director, Catholic
Children's Aid Society of Toronto
CAS Steals Girl
December 9, 2006
The following story is typical of CAS. The only thing
unusual is that, owing to the scandal of the past week, the
press is willing to print it.
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Father has issues with CAS
Tb News Source
Web Posted: 12/5/2006 5:47:12 PM
While Children's Aid Societies were under scrutiny by
the Ontario auditor general for irregular spending, a local
father has his own complaint.
Doug Olsen says he has been in an ongoing battle with
CAS since August 2005 over the custody of his six-year-old
daughter.
Olsen says he has brought more then 27 issues forward,
all of which he says, have been ignored. He says his
daughter's safety is at stake, and Children's Aid is not
honouring its mandate, which is to protect his child.
'' When she was born she had her human rights attached
to her and for the CAS office in Thunder Bay, to strip
rights from my daughter and subject her to verbal,
physical, mental, and maybe sexual abuse is unforgivable.
Why do they do it? and why are they doing it? ''
Olsen says he is in the process of organizing a group in
the city called Justice for Fathers. He says he will
continue the fight with CAS until his daughter is
protected.
Internet Journalists Jailed
December 8, 2006
The Committee to Protect Journalists has released a report
showing 134 journalists were in jail on December 1, 2006, of
which 49 were internet journalists. Their reporting did not
include Canada, where Cathy Norris spent a month in jail for
her website critical of children's aid.
The three charts below summarize their findings.
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CAS Workers on Drugs
December 8, 2006
Rev Dorian Baxter writes of drug-use by CAS staff, and
requests mandatory testing.
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Canada Court Watch
A program of the National Association for
Public & Private Accountability
Box 30, The Reimer Building, 5500 North Service Road,
Burlington Ontario L9L 6W6
Telephone (416)410-4115
The Archbishop Dorian A. Baxter, National Chairman
Website: http://www.canadacourtwatch.com
December 7, 2006
The Honourable Mary Anne Chambers, Minister of Children
& Youth Services
56 Wellesley St. W., 14th floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 2S3
Phone: (416) 212-7432
Fax: (413) 212-7431
Email: machambers.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Dear Minister
RE: Abuse of illegal drugs by CAS workers
Recently, a professional health care worker who
attended the Hamilton CAS "Grape Expectations" fund
raising event in Hamilton on October 30, 2006, contacted
Canada Court Watch and reported seeing several workers
with the Children's Aid Society engage in smoking hash
near the front entrance to this public event.
The high profile "Grape Expectations" fund raising
event was held at the Luna Station Banquet Hall on James
St. N. in Hamilton with tickets being sold at $100
each.
According to this professional who contacted our
offices, the actions of the CAS workers were visible to
members of the public entering the main entrance to the
event. The odour of drugs was also noticeable in the area
surrounding the area where the CAS workers were smoking
the illegal substances. It was reported that one
well-dressed, elderly gentleman who was dropped off at the
entrance to the event by a private limousine was also not
pleased to see the CAS workers indulging in drugs near the
entrance to the building. The unnamed gentleman walked
over to the CAS workers and told them that they should be
ashamed for what they were doing and that they should at
least be going to the back of the building to make their
activities a bit less obvious.
The CAS workers laughed and just ignored the well
intentioned gentleman who obviously could see that the CAS
workers were stoned and exercising very poor judgement.
This incident of illegal drug use by CAS workers in
Hamilton falls on the heels of the arrest and conviction
of another CAS worker, Sarah Villella, who was recently
convicted in court of helping to bring illegal guns into
Canada. Ms. Villella is also facing charges relating to
the import and sale of illegal drugs in Canada. The CAS
workers indulging in drugs at the Grape Expectations event
knew Sarah Villella and had worked with her at the CAS
before her arrest and conviction.
The fact that the CAS workers have become bold enough
as to openly indulge in drug use at a public event clearly
indicates that a serious problem exists. Most law abiding
citizens of Ontario would agree that illegal drug use
should have no place at any CAS agency or at any function
sponsored by the CAS. Allowing CAS workers to indulge in
drugs sets a double standard as many parents involved with
CAS are subjected to drug testing by CAS agencies as a
condition of having access to their children. Many
parents are being forced to subject themselves to drug
tests by CAS workers who may in fact be doing drugs
themselves. It would seem that the CAS workers have
established one set of standards for parents in the
community and no standards of accountability for
themselves.
While the Ministry has just promised to deal with the
issue of blatant abuse of taxpayer's monies by some CAS
workers, it is time that the issue of drug use of drugs by
CAS workers be dealt with as well. Even if it is only
some CAS workers are involved with drugs, those involved
must be removed from their duties so that their influences
will not rub off to the other workers or on to some of the
children and families they serve.
Court Watch has received calls from some teenage
children who have reported that CAS workers have provided
kids in care with booze, cigarettes and sometimes even
drugs. When a culture of drugs and involvement with the
criminal sector infiltrate a CAS agency and become
accepted as normal amongst workers and volunteers, a lot
of damage can be done to the very children who CAS are
supposed to be caring for.
It is well known that organized crime is responsible
for importing most illegal drugs and when CAS workers
become involved with those associated with organized
crime, they put the agency they work for at risk. The
case involving former Hamilton CAS worker Sarah Villella
is a clear example of how her connections with organized
crime led up to her arrest and conviction of gun running.
The chances are that she was involved with drugs and
organized crime while she was an employee of the Hamilton
CAS.
This latest incident of CAS workers taking drugs at the
Grape Expectations event can only lead many to question if
other workers are connected to the same circle of friends
as was Sarah Villella. This begs the question: Could
some CAS workers be "bought off" with free drugs? Could
some CAS workers turn a blind eye to suspected abuse of
children in families connected with drugs? Could a CAS
worker become dependent on drugs to the point where he/she
could be blackmailed to obtain confidential records from
CAS files?
In another troubling case involving the York Region
CAS, a supervisor with the agency, Ms. Donna Lennon
recently pleaded guilty in the Newmarket Court to stealing
money from children in care. According to the mother of
the child involved, she believed that Ms. Lennon may have
become involved with drugs and that money problems as a
result of drug use may have caused the CAS supervisor to
steal from children in care. If it had not been for Court
Watch assisting the mother to pursue the crime, the CAS
supervisor would likely still be working for the CAS and
still likely stealing from other children in care.
To protect our province's most vulnerable and to help
ensure that CAS workers are not involved with the criminal
element, all case workers with the Hamilton CAS who are
directly involved with families should be promptly
screened from drugs use, using a hair test. If workers at
the Hamilton CAS have not taken drugs, they should offer
no objection to a hair test being conducted on themselves.
If anything, CAS workers should be eager to demonstrate
that they are willing to comply to the same set of
standards that they impose on many parents in the
community when use of drugs has been alleged. Those
workers who refuse or object to drug testing likely have
something to hide.
CAS employees found with illegal drugs in their system
should be immediately relieved from their duties without
pay and not allowed to return to work until drug tests
confirm that they are free of drugs.
When it comes to the use of illegal drugs by CAS
workers, there should be a zero tolerance policy
established. It is imperative that workers involved with
illegal drugs at the CAS be weeded out and their links to
organized crime broken. The only way to find out this for
sure is to have drug testing done on all workers by an
independent lab and monitored by the RCMP or the local
police. Random drug testing should be a condition of
employment with all CAS agencies, with testing being
monitored by an independent outside agency under the
control of a police force.
It is inevitable that if random drug testing is not
implemented for CAS workers that it will be only a matter
of time until other CAS workers are caught up |