Failing Our Children

View 7–Day Archive

Mapping out Manitoba's CFS system

Enlarge

Examining the Problems

Hide captionPhoenix Sinclair

Defence of devolution
09/15/2007 3:50 AM 0
Hide captionPatsy Keanna-Lynn Desmarais.

In child welfare, no one dares say R-word
09/15/2007 3:50 AM 0
A sad history
09/16/2007 10:07 AM 0
A timeline of child welfare in Manitoba.
Hide captionGage Guimond, 2, was rushed to hospital Friday, July 20 but died Sunday, July 22, 2007.

Who failed this child?
07/26/2007 5:00 AM 0
View Related
This disgrace must not be endured
09/17/2007 5:00 AM 0
MANITOBA'S child welfare system is in chaos.

We don't need reports or recommendations to understand that countless children in this province ...
Hide captionRenee Smoke was a friend of the late Tracia Owen and together they helped paint a mural at 591 Sherbrook Street.

Tracia's tragedy prophesied
01/18/2008 5:00 AM 0
View Related
A system that puts children's safety last
10/4/2008 5:50 AM 0
Here are a few quick facts for your consideration:
The maximum sentence in the Canadian Criminal Code for corrupting a child ...
It's tough to dig the truth out of CFS bureaucracy
09/25/2008 5:50 AM 0
Lies, damn lies and prevarications. That's what you can expect when you try to extract the facts of a troubling child welfare case from people sworn to protect children in care.
- Boy's plea for a friend
- Close
View Related
Children die in agency's care
10/2/2008 5:50 AM 0
A northern First Nations community is reeling after two deaths of youths in the care of a Manitoba Child and ...
Hide captionFoster mom Donna Ames holds a picture of Nathaniel Meeches, who later died while in the care of an aunt and uncle.

Danger signs all there when baby died in '93
03/30/2008 2:45 AM 0
System overhauled, but the deaths continue
12/21/2008 1:00 AM 0
Before five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair's body was discovered in March 2006 and the horrors of her abuse and torture spotlighted a child-welfare system in crisis, 145 kids in care had died, according to a provincial report, since devolution began in 2003.
- Wish lists from the front line: Children's advocate
- Close
View Related

Exploring the Possibilities

Hide captionA Royal Newfoundland Constabulary handout photo shows a recent photo of Shirley Turner, 42 and her 13-month-old son Zachary Turner.

The same old question whenever a child dies
09/16/2007 3:45 AM 0
First things first at CFS
09/17/2007 5:00 AM 0
MANITOBA'S child welfare system has long been characterized by two recurring themes -- upheaval and crisis. When one's around, the ...
Will more studies, analysts really help?
03/10/2008 5:00 AM 0
The province of Manitoba is spending $1.5 million to set up a Child Welfare Secretariat it says will better co-ordinate ...
Put kids' needs over culture
01/30/2008 5:00 AM 0
SIX Winnipeg children, whose mother is in jail after being accused of running a child prostitution ring, are in danger ...
- Help for reserve families urged
- Close
View Related
All CFS agencies struggle
09/20/2007 5:00 AM 0
PROBLEMS in the child and family Services system are not new -- as so many professionals have stated. Overworked social ...
Move from blind hate towards a prevention-focused approach
08/2/2008 3:35 AM 0
What is it about July that brings out the worst in us?
A year ago, Winnipeggers endured a month ...
Child welfare hits rock bottom
05/23/2008 3:40 AM 0
Just how badly can Manitoba's fractured child welfare system fail a child in care?
Let me count the ways.

We'll begin with ...
Caseloads no panacea
11/19/2007 5:00 AM 0
THE review of Manitoba's child welfare system released in September found, almost at every turn it seemed, that there was ...
Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic
11/3/2007 5:00 AM 0
WHEN the Children's Advocate Enhancement Act passes next week -- as it surely will -- responsibility for investigating the deaths ...
Too many kids in need to spend $140K this way
05/15/2008 3:40 AM 0
If you were a beleaguered First Nations Child and Family Services Authority struggling to provide the best care to children ...
Child-welfare devolution review urged
06/6/2008 3:55 AM 0
Progressive Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen called on the province Thursday to create a special all-party committee to examine the devolution ...
Parents involved in CFS system need more support: study
10/3/2008 3:12 PM 0
Aboriginal mothers who have lost custody of their kids say the child welfare system is often unfair, overly-complex and alienates ...
Unkind, difficult system alienates kids: CFS study
10/4/2008 5:50 AM 0
Aboriginal mothers who have lost custody of their kids say the child-welfare system is often unfair, overly complex, and alienates ...
Dead kids don't vote: how convenient
11/21/2007 5:00 AM 0
DEAD kids don't vote. Neither do parents or grandparents whose kids have been killed under the nominal care of Child and Family Services. They're too busy dealing with grief and addiction and poverty and any unholy litany of reasons that led their children to be seized by the government in the first place.
If people will come forward a child's life might be saved
07/26/2007 5:00 AM 0
GAGE GUIMOND died under the watchful eye of Child and Family Services, the agency that removed him from a ...
Time for MLAs to stop fighting about Phoenix
03/22/2006 5:00 AM 0
AS preparations began for the search for Phoenix Sinclair's body yesterday, the carrion crows were already circling the Manitoba Legislature.
The ...

Making Changes

SAFETY FIRST: Legal changes will protect kids in care
03/28/2008 5:00 AM 0
The safety of children will take precedence over all other considerations -- including cultural and family ties -- for kids in care in Manitoba's child welfare system, through legislation expected this spring.
Coming in '09: A new approach
12/21/2008 1:00 AM 0
GET ready for next year's child-welfare catch phrase: Differential response.

That's social work-speak for programs and specialized staff that gently weasel ...
- Phoenix's legacy takes shape
- Close
View Related
Problems, prescriptions and progress
12/21/2008 1:00 AM 0
There's been a flurry of fixes to the child-welfare system since Phoenix Sinclair's death. They come under the umbrella of ...
Province to spot-check foster homes
08/8/2008 5:00 AM 0
In the wake of two damning reports and an avalanche of criticism of the province's child welfare system, the province ...
CFS audit combs files of all kids in agency's care
03/6/2008 5:00 AM 0
AN operational review of Southeast Child and Family Services will comb through the file of every child in the agency's ...
- Review reveals complicated relationship between tribal council, child-welfare agency
- Close
View Related
Local CFS agency developing training program for social workers
01/2/2007 1:49 PM 0
Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services is developing the first native-run training program for social workers in Manitoba.
The agency, which ...
A fifth child agency probed
05/17/2008 3:00 AM 0
A fifth Manitoba child welfare agency is under review -- this time for questionable hiring practices.

It emerged this week that ...
Troubled agency's director on leave
03/5/2008 5:55 AM 0
The executive director of Southeast Child and Family Services has been placed on administrative leave during an ongoing operational review ...
- Review reveals complicated relationship between tribal council, child-welfare agency
- Close
View Related
First Nation votes to remove troubled CFS agency
11/9/2007 5:00 AM 0
BLOODVEIN First Nation has voted to boot the Southeast Child and Family Services agency off the reserve.

The chief and council ...
- Review reveals complicated relationship between tribal council, child-welfare agency
- Close
View Related
Sagkeeng CFS faces scrutiny over deaths
03/27/2008 5:00 AM 0
The operations of Sagkeeng Child and Family Services agency are being reviewed as part of an ongoing probe into the ...
Province working on plan to fix child welfare
07/24/2007 8:20 PM 0
Manitoba’s Child and Family Services minister said he is saddened by the death of two-year-old Gage Guimond while in the ...

More Columnists Columnists

More Blogs Blogs

Poll