Better oversight sought for CFS drivers

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This article was published 15/07/2020 (2021 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After her son was injured in a motor vehicle incident, a Waywayseecappo First Nation woman has started a petition to boost oversight of provincial Child and Family Services drivers.

Aileen Brooke Brandon said her five-year-old son was injured when a car driven by a case worker for the agency was involved in a motor vehicle incident on Sept. 5, 2019. Her son was hurt when the airbag went off.

“He has a permanent scar on the top of the left side of his head,” she said.

“He got a laceration about an inch and a half on his head. Every time I shave his head down, that’s all you see on his head now, it’s permanent.”

At the time of the incident, she said her kids were being driven back home from daycare.

Only one of them was properly belted in, she alleges.

Now, she says she wants more accountability and oversight for CFS drivers.

“I would like for the laws to change to include the Vehicle for Hire Act or a taxi board or something. … Seeing what I’ve gone through, I’d like for my opinion to be listened to,” she said.

In the petition directed to West Region CFS executive director Stella Bone, West Region Child and Family Services, Child and Family Services Manitoba and Families Minister Heather Stefanson, Brandon asks for agencies to stop using volunteer drivers.

She also asks for increased use of child safety restraint and training on how to install car seats in cars.

“I’m calling for no more volunteers. I’m calling for registered drivers only,” she said.

The Local Vehicle for Hire Act gives municipalities in Manitoba the authority to license and regulate vehicles for hire that operate within their boundaries. The law gives municipalities the ability to institute bylaws to govern the requirements drivers need to meet and specify safety standards for vehicles.

“If you’re going to be having 10,000 children in your custody, there better be a taxi committee or a taxi board or something to put in place,” Brandon said.

Neither Bone nor a spokesperson for the West Region Child and Family Services could be reached this week.

Brandon said drivers should also be required to undergo training to drive children with a disability, she said, since some children could undo their car seats while being transported.

“Those kinds of things are very risky,” she said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Stefanson said child safety is top of mind.

“The safety of children in care is our top priority. Child welfare workers may transport children as part of their day-to-day work, and their agencies are responsible for ensuring they follow relevant rules and guidelines,” the spokesperson’s emailed statement reads.

“The purpose of the Vehicles for Hire Act is to set out a framework for municipalities to make their own bylaws for paid transportation services, such as taxis and limousines.”

In early July, Brandon said she regained custody of all three of her children.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 18 people had signed the petition out of a goal of 100 signatures.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_