More powers for child-welfare watchdog

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This article was published 26/05/2021 (1839 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth will soon be able to investigate injuries or deaths outside the adoption and child welfare system.

On June 1, the provincial government will proclaim another provision in the Advocate for Children and Youth Act, which expands the Advocate’s mandate.

Under the current framework, the organization can only investigate an injury or death of a child who has been in contact with the Child and Family Services system.

The advocate will soon be able to investigate circumstances where children were receiving services or whose families were receiving services related to mental health, addictions or youth justice in the year before.

“These measures will help ensure public accountability for a range of critical services that aim to help Manitoba’s most vulnerable children and youth,” Families Minister Rochelle Squires said during a Tuesday morning press conference.

The change is part of the recommendation made after the inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair, a five-year-old who was murdered in 2005.

“The tragedy of Phoenix’s life and death are well known to Manitobans and show the clear and devastating impacts of what can happen when we don’t all work together to help our young people,” Squires said.

The move marks a major step forward in protecting children’s rights, said Ainsley Krone, the acting advocate for children and youth.

The pandemic is a “crucial time” for children as many young people are overwhelmed, she said. The office receives a notification almost every day of a death from the Office of the Child Medical Examiner.

“Far too often, deaths of young people in the province have fallen out of scope for my office to review or investigate as many did not have child welfare involvement in the year before their deaths,” Krone said, adding the “out of scope” deaths include suicides, homicides and accidents.

In the 2019-20 fiscal year, the office was notified of 198 deaths, she said. Approximately 70 per cent of child and youth deaths over the past five years have fallen outside of the advocate’s mandate for an independent review.

“It can be heartbreaking to see so many preventable deaths reported to our office knowing lingering legislative barriers prevented us from being allowed to review the circumstances of the child’s death,” Krone said.

The pandemic has had a major impact on people’s mental health, children included, Squires said, and the province is going through a “mental health crisis.”

“As we move through the final stages of this pandemic and into our recovery, it will be increasingly important to ensure proper services are being delivered to help kids in need,” Squires said.

One part of the Act is still unproclaimed — the duty of the provincial government to report children’s serious injuries to the Advocate. Squires said more information on this will be announced at a later date.

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