Chase wants to stop needless child deaths in foster care
Calgary – Official Opposition Children and Youth Services Critic Harry Chase is deeply saddened by the death of yet another child who was in the care of the provincial government.
The baby died in foster care less than a week after being removed from the home of its mother, and Chase believes the mother deserves answers from the government that took her baby away.
“This isn’t the first time a child has died while in the care of the government,” Chase says. “In fact, it’s part of a disturbing pattern; in the last decade, 51 children have died while receiving protective services, and the government consistently ducks questions and evades responsibility.”
Chase acknowledges that protecting the privacy of children is essential, but says the government shouldn’t use privacy concerns as a shield to cover up mistakes and neglect that have resulted in the death of several children.
“This mother deserves to know why her baby was taken away and why it died in the government’s care. In fact, all the families affected by this long string of tragedies deserve answers, just as Albertans deserve to know that this won’t be allowed to happen again.”
Above all, Chase believes that this latest incident requires the government to thoroughly review foster care in Alberta and to raise standards of care to prevent incidents like this from ever happening again. He notes that the Auditor General’s recommendation to improve monitoring of child intervention services has been ignored since 2007.
According to Chase, this case highlights the continuing need for an independent Child and Youth Advocate who would report directly to the legislature for greater transparency.
“To lose one child in this way should have prompted a drastic overhaul of foster care,” Chase says. “We’ve lost several now, and still this government hasn’t acted. I implore the minister, for the sake of all children, to fix the system before another child is lost.”
The Alberta Liberal Caucus…There’s a better way.
– 30 –
For more information contact:
John Santos, Media Liaison
(780) 904-5430
Brian Leadbetter, Director of Communications
(780) 862-5661