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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Keeping kids safe
The examination by the Children's Advocate Office of child deaths in the province starkly shows the higher risk of homicide and suicide faced by kids in the child welfare system. Analysing that data could give some insight into how to better protect these children and youth.
The office's 2010-2011 annual report shows that of 156 Manitoba kids who died, 53 were either in care of a child welfare agency or had received services within a year of their death. The bulk of the 156 died naturally or accidentally. However, of the 19 who died by suicide or homicide, 11 were children who were in care or had received services.
Pulling apart the complex histories of children whose lives are in turmoil is difficult, and it can take some work to discern whether an agency had sufficient time to have made a difference. (For example, a child might have come into contact with the system because they were suicidal.) Case files, however, would show who among the 11 had recently seen services withdrawn -- had been returned to a family or moved into a stage where services were deemed no longer needed.
The province has refined guidelines for assessing the level of risk to a child, usually a complicated exercise, to help workers decide whether immediate intervention is needed. Looking for commonalities among the deaths can help pinpoint weaknesses in the process, in hopes of reducing the grim statistics.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 8, 2012 A10
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