Advocate to track serious child, youth injuries

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This article was published 04/07/2023 (887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in Manitoba, a reporting system has been put in place to track serious injuries of children and young adults who are within child and family services, youth justice, mental health and addictions systems.

The Serious Injury Reporting Regulation will make it mandatory for those who work with children and youth to report to the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY) when there is a serious injury.

The regulation was five years in the making and came into effect July 1, alongside the Advocate for Children and Youth Act (ACYA), which was enacted in 2018.

“This is the third and final phase of the regulation,” said Manitoba Advocate Sherry Gott.

Phase one was expanded from focusing on child welfare and adoption to include disabilities, mental health, addiction, victim support services, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, youth justice and education.

Phase two widened the scope of advocacy to include investigations after the death of a child youth or young adult.

“Phase three is so important because there was no central database being kept anywhere in Manitoba,” said Gott. “And now we can identify themes and trends with respect to serious injuries in children and youth.”

Serious injuries are a major public health issue worldwide and can often lead to lasting physical and/or psychological harm, according to a section of the ACYA.

It defines a serious injury as life-threatening, one that requires admission to a hospital and is expected to cause serious or long-term physical or psychological impairment.

Additionally, serious injury can be the result of a sexual assault, causing long-term psychological impairment.

Even though MACY is associated with the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, it is non-partisan, which means it has no affiliation with any political party.

But under provincial law, MACY is empowered to educate the public about children’s rights, as well as make recommendations to government, to conduct child-centred research, and publicize findings.

Gott says their office can now offer immediate support to individuals and their families, which gives them deeper insight into the challenges faced by youth today.

“It’s about the children all across Manitoba. We specifically monitor Child and Family Services (CFS), and the services they provide to children in care, but we also monitor addictions, mental health, and disabilities.” said Gott. “There were times when we weren’t able to access that information in order to start an investigation.”

Now that the Serious Injury Reporting Regulation has been enacted, MACY has the authority to investigate serious injuries within a year of the injury, Manitoba Families Minister Rochelle Squires stated in a news release on June 30.

“This collaborative effort [between MACY and ACYA] marks the completion of recommendation No. 36 from the Phoenix Sinclair Inquiry — to expand MACY’s mandate beyond the Child and Family Services system, and to include reporting of serious injuries in addition to deaths,” said Squires.

Phoenix Sinclair was a five-year-old girl who was repeatedly abused and neglected for several months, ending with her death in June 2005 inside a home on Fisher River First Nation.

Three years later, Phoenix’s parents, Karl McKay and Samantha Kematch, were convicted of first-degree murder and received life sentences with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.

In 2011, Manitoba’s attorney general commissioned a report looking into Phoenix Sinclair’s death, which resulted in 62 recommendations that called for the establishment of an independent advocate for children and youth who receive, or are entitled to receive publicly funded services, and to report on matters that concern them.

In his report, retired judge Ted Hughes wrote: “Meanwhile, at least 13 times throughout her life, Winnipeg Child and Family Services received notice of concerns for Phoenix’s safety and well-being from various sources, the last one coming three months before her death. Throughout, files were opened and closed, often without a social worker ever laying eyes on Phoenix.”

Included in the recommendation that called for an independent advocate for children, Hughes stated that the position would have “responsibility to review not only deaths, but also critical injuries to any child in care and any child who had been involved with child welfare during the previous year.”

Once the injury reports come into the database from the province’s service providers, Gott’s office will conduct a review to determine whether the serious injury falls within their legislative mandate, and if appropriate, she said, they will investigate.

“We have mechanisms in place, and we have hired staff,” said Gott. “In fact, we have one program manager and three staff members to monitor and receive the reports.

“We hope this will enhance services for the children and youth in Manitoba because it’s about protecting their interests and ensuring that they’re provided the appropriate services.”

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