Winnipeg Free Press > Special Coverage > Failing Our Children

Failing Our Children

When ideology trumps common sense, the innocent pay the price.

Gage Guimond (2005-2007), Phoenix Sinclair (2000-2005), Heaven Traverse (2003-2005)

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Gage Guimond (2005-2007), Phoenix Sinclair (2000-2005), Heaven Traverse (2003-2005)

Free Press work on CFS honoured with Michener nod

A two-year investigation into the devolution of Manitoba’s child welfare system earned the Winnipeg Free Press a 2009 Michener Award for meritorious public service journalism citation.

Devolution recognizes a child’s right to his or her own culture, and the right of that culture to look after its own children.

A team of ...

ONLINE06/12/2009 12:02 PM0

Examining the Problems

Exploring the Possibilities

  • A 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

    The 2003 death of Zachary Andrew Turner should have served as a cautionary tale for Manitoba's child and family services system.

    PRINT09/16/2007 3:45 AM0

  • Mapping out Manitoba's CFS system

    A look at child-welfare agencies around the province.

    PRINT12/21/2008 1:00 AM0

  • First things first at CFS

    MANITOBA'S child welfare system has long been characterized by two recurring themes -- upheaval and crisis. When one's around, the other is close behind. Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh is juggling the fallout of an organizational upheaval that has been blamed for putting little kids at enormous, sometimes lethal risk. He wants to shake things up again.

    PRINT09/17/2007 5:00 AM0

  • Will more studies, analysts really help?

    The province of Manitoba is spending $1.5 million to set up a Child Welfare Secretariat it says will better co-ordinate the work of the four aboriginal agencies created under devolution.

    PRINT03/10/2008 5:00 AM0

  • Put kids' needs over culture

    SIX Winnipeg children, whose mother is in jail after being accused of running a child prostitution ring, are in danger of being yanked from their long-term foster home and moved to a reserve where they have never lived.

    PRINT01/30/2008 5:00 AM0

  • All CFS agencies struggle

    PROBLEMS in the child and family Services system are not new -- as so many professionals have stated. Overworked social workers, precious few resources, growing numbers of children with special needs, and the need for more qualified foster homes are only the beginning. Children were being housed in hotels long before devolution came into play.

    PRINT09/20/2007 5:00 AM0

  • Move from blind hate towards a prevention-focused approach

    What is it about July that brings out the worst in us?

    PRINT08/2/2008 3:35 AM0

  • Child welfare hits rock bottom

    Just how badly can Manitoba's fractured child welfare system fail a child in care?

    PRINT05/23/2008 3:40 AM0

  • Caseloads no panacea

    THE review of Manitoba's child welfare system released in September found, almost at every turn it seemed, that there was a problem with the way agencies respond to children and families in need. This ranged from the technology used to track cases to the fundamentals -- the education and training of front-line workers. An accompanying review found that workloads were too heavy.

    PRINT11/19/2007 5:00 AM0

  • Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic

    WHEN the Children's Advocate Enhancement Act passes next week -- as it surely will -- responsibility for investigating the deaths of children killed in the care of Child and Family Services will be transferred from the office of the chief medical examiner to the Manitoba Children's Advocate.

    PRINT11/3/2007 5:00 AM0

  • Too many kids in need to spend $140K this way

    If you were a beleaguered First Nations Child and Family Services Authority struggling to provide the best care to children and families in crisis, how would you spend a spare $140,000?

    PRINT05/15/2008 3:40 AM0

  • Child-welfare devolution review urged

    Progressive Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen called on the province Thursday to create a special all-party committee to examine the devolution of Manitoba's child welfare system to aboriginal agencies.

    PRINT06/6/2008 3:55 AM0

  • Parents involved in CFS system need more support: study

    Aboriginal mothers who have lost custody of their kids say the child welfare system is often unfair, overly-complex and alienates them from their kids.

    PRINT10/3/2008 3:12 PM0

  • Unkind, difficult system alienates kids: CFS study

    Aboriginal mothers who have lost custody of their kids say the child-welfare system is often unfair, overly complex, and alienates children from their culture.

    PRINT10/4/2008 5:50 AM0

  • Dead kids don't vote: how convenient

    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.

    PRINT11/21/2007 5:00 AM0

  • If people will come forward a child's life might be saved

    GAGE GUIMOND died under the watchful eye of Child and Family Services, the agency that removed him from a loving foster home and placed him with a distant relative.

    PRINT07/26/2007 5:00 AM0

  • Time for MLAs to stop fighting about Phoenix

    AS preparations began for the search for Phoenix Sinclair's body yesterday, the carrion crows were already circling the Manitoba Legislature.

    PRINT03/22/2006 5:00 AM0

Making Changes

  • SAFETY FIRST: Legal changes will protect kids in care

    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.

    PRINT03/28/2008 5:00 AM0

  • Coming in '09: A new approach

    GET ready for next year's child-welfare catch phrase: Differential response.

    PRINT12/21/2008 1:00 AM0

  • Problems, prescriptions and progress

    There's been a flurry of fixes to the child-welfare system since Phoenix Sinclair's death. They come under the umbrella of Changes for Children, and they come with a hefty $42-million price tag.

    PRINT12/21/2008 1:00 AM0

  • Phoenix's legacy is just beginning

    Phoenix Sinclair endured horrific abuse before she was murdered. But now the trial is over, and those of us who did pay attention need to figure out how to deal with our anger and our outrage.

    PRINT12/22/2008 1:00 AM0

  • Province to spot-check foster homes

    In the wake of two damning reports and an avalanche of criticism of the province's child welfare system, the province will spot-check thousands of foster homes to ensure they're licensed and safe and will launch an agency-by-agency review this fall.

    PRINT08/8/2008 5:00 AM0

  • CFS audit combs files of all kids in agency's care

    AN operational review of Southeast Child and Family Services will comb through the file of every child in the agency's care, looking to ensure there are no more children like Tracia Owen slipping through the cracks.

    PRINT03/6/2008 5:00 AM0

  • Local CFS agency developing training program for social workers

    Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services is developing the first native-run training program for social workers in Manitoba.

    PRINT01/2/2007 1:49 PM0

  • A fifth child agency probed

    A fifth Manitoba child welfare agency is under review -- this time for questionable hiring practices.

    PRINT05/17/2008 3:00 AM0

  • Troubled agency's director on leave

    The executive director of Southeast Child and Family Services has been placed on administrative leave during an ongoing operational review of the troubled agency which faced criticism over the suicide of a 14-year-old girl in its care.

    PRINT03/5/2008 5:55 AM0

  • First Nation votes to remove troubled CFS agency

    BLOODVEIN First Nation has voted to boot the Southeast Child and Family Services agency off the reserve.

    PRINT11/9/2007 5:00 AM0

  • Sagkeeng CFS faces scrutiny over deaths

    The operations of Sagkeeng Child and Family Services agency are being reviewed as part of an ongoing probe into the death of two-year-old Gage Guimond.

    PRINT03/27/2008 5:00 AM0

  • Province working on plan to fix child welfare

    Manitoba’s Child and Family Services minister said he is saddened by the death of two-year-old Gage Guimond while in the care of the province’s child welfare system.

    PRINT07/24/2007 8:20 PM0

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