Province takes Souris woman’s savings

SOURIS — A Souris foster mother and daughter say they are in danger of losing their home after the province’s Public Guardian and Trustee branch took $37,000 of the foster daughter’s money without her approval.

Pattie Cunningham said she and her foster daughter, Zoey, are in danger of living on the street because Zoey can’t access her money.

“If someone doesn’t get off their ass soon and support this young lady, we’re both at risk of being on the street,” said Cunningham, 62.

“My hydro is outstanding. My water’s outstanding, my taxes — like it’s getting bad.”

Cunningham, who works at a personal care home, said Zoey had agreed to pay rent after she became an adult because less CFS money was coming in and Cunningham couldn’t afford to pay the bills and other expenses otherwise.

Zoey, who is 18, aged out of the foster system in April. She has lived with Pattie since she was four months old.

The money Zoey had been receiving went to paying rent — to help with house insurance and bills — and helping with the groceries and medication.

Cunningham said the $37,000 Zoey had in savings was taken by the Public Guardian and Trustee branch (PGT) in the middle of September due to her daughter’s condition, as well as financial decisions she’s made in the past.

Zoey has DiGeorge syndrome, intracranial hypertension, hypoparathyroidism and has had three open heart surgeries.

PGT “makes personal decisions on behalf of mentally incompetent adults or adults living with an intellectual disability who are not mentally capable of making decisions independently,” the province’s website says.

Cunningham said Zoey has never even been tested for incompetence, and the agency took the money without asking, which never should have happened.

Now that it’s being managed by the PGT, Zoey has no control over it. She’s supposed to be given a monthly amount based on what the PGT decides, but hasn’t received anything yet.

“I think she has the right, a basic human right, to manage her own affairs, until proven otherwise,” Cunningham said.

“I want her on assistance. I want her to be given a budget to follow, because I am very confident in her capability to follow a budget. I want her to have independence and anonymity.”

She said Zoey’s spending before her account was taken could also be part of the problem.

Zoey received $61,000 in a class-action lawsuit against CFS when she turned 18. About $30,000 went to buying a new camper for the family, computer equipment and other expenses. The balance of the money went into her savings account, where she already had about $5,000 that she had been saving since she was 12.

Over the past few months, the family has been spending less on groceries, and has limited trips to Winnipeg for medical appointments in order to pay the bills.

“My job is to provide stability for her, and I feel that that’s being jeopardized by the government,” Cunningham said.

The pair had requested for an extra year of funding through CFS, but were facing months of roadblocks in getting help. They were getting some money, but not enough. Before PGT took the savings, they decided to apply for social assistance, where Zoey would receive up to $946 a month.

When Zoey applied for social assistance with Employment and Income Assistance, the provincial agency asked for bank statements going back 60 days. When the Cunninghams went to the bank, they found out the Public Guardian and Trustee branch took out the $37,000 she had in savings. Since the account was gone, they couldn’t get the bank statements to apply for assistance.

“I tried on Monday to say we need emergency funding for this home to function for the next month,” Cunningham said. “Then I got, ‘We can’t help you till we have 60 days of bank statements’ on the account that no longer exists. So it’s just a big …”

Both of them said they’ve lost confidence in social workers and are calling on the province to rectify the situation by letting Zoey have control over her money again, where she can budget it herself.

“I’ve been learning how to save since I was 12,” Zoey said. “I want to be able to spend it how I was trained to spend it.”

She added that her poor grades in school might also explain the agency’s lack of confidence.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine wasn’t available for an interview on Thursday, but a press secretary sent a statement.

“While we cannot comment on individual cases, the department of families works directly with Manitobans transitioning from youth to adult programs,” Ryan Stelter said in an email. “The department typically works with individuals to identify programs for which they are eligible and connect them with these supports.”

The Sun also reached out to Progressive Conservative families critic Jodie Byram, but she also wasn’t available as the legislature was in its second day back from summer break.

Cunningham said they are trying to get a lawyer and are going day by day.

“We’re just trying to make it through the end of the month, or until next Friday, when I get paid again,” she said. “She’s down to about $2,000 in her (chequing) account because she’s paying rent, buying meds, trips to Winnipeg for doctors.”

» alambert@brandonsun.com