EDITORIAL
Ontario’s children are dying of neglect
FIRST POSTED:
What is the point of having inquest after inquest into the deaths of beaten, abused, starved and neglected children in Ontario if their recommendations are going to be ignored and forgotten?
It’s happening again with the recommendations of the inquest into the death of five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin.
Jeffrey died horribly of septic shock in 2002, weighing only 21 pounds, after suffering unimaginable abuse from his maternal grandparents, right under the noses of children’s aid society workers.
Workers who literally handed him over to his tormentors and then did nothing to protect him.
Had they done a background check on the grandparents — who were eventually convicted of second-degree murder — they would have known they were unfit to parent him, both having been convicted of crimes against children themselves.
Before Jeffrey Baldwin there was Randall Dooley, barely seven years old, and Jordan Heikamp, five weeks old, and after him Katelynn Angel Sampson, seven.
All young lives cut short by terrible neglect, abuse or a combination of the two, as indicated by evidence presented before horrified jurors at inquests and criminal trials.
Something is clearly broken in Ontario’s system of children’s aid societies and yet there appears to be no sense of urgency to fix it.
As Irwin Elman, Ontario’s Children and Youth Advocate noted last week, 81of the 103 recommendations made by the Baldwin inquest a year ago — after his grandparents had finally used up all the legal appeals available to them — haven’t been enacted.
Two organizations cited by the jury haven’t even reported back on the recommendations that applied to them.
A major recommendation calling for a computerized information-sharing system among children’s aid societies won’t be completed until 2020.
Even if it is, it will be 18 years after Jeffrey Baldwin’s death, six years after the jury made the recommendation.
Children and Youth Services Minister Tracy MacCharles says the ministry is in the process of responding to 46 of the jury recommendations
But the ministry didn’t even seek legal standing at Jeffrey’s inquest, even though 49 of the jury recommendations ended up applying to it, since it is ultimately responsible for child protection in Ontario.
And it’s not just the current Liberal government.
Ontario governments of all political stripes have been falling down on the job for decades.
Elman says he plans to raise these issues again once the inquest into Katelynn Angel Sampson gets underway.
Katelynn died in 2008 from septic shock after repeated beatings and neglect by her legal guardians, both of whom pled guilty to second-degree murder in 2012.
Two children’s aid societies involved in that case ended up blaming each other for dropping the ball.
No doubt the inquest into Katelynn’s death will produce many more recommendations, which will again be ignored.
Until someone in government shows some leadership in this crisis and starts taking it seriously.
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/life/video-socks-warm-the-heart
Video: Socks Warm The Heart
Sarah Lewis hands out socks and gloves at Street Help in Windsor on February 12, 2015. In its eighth year Lewis’ campaign ‘Socks Warm Your Heart’ provided more than 500 pairs of socks and a cash donation to help the homeless.
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/fort-malden-offers-family-day-day-camp
Fort Malden offers Family Day day camp
Learn first-hand what it was like to be a soldier 200 years ago through Fort Malden National Historic Site’s Soldier for a Day program.
The day camp is being offered by Parks Canada on Monday’s Family Day holiday for children ages six to 12 at the Amherstburg fort.
Kids will get to dress up as soldiers in War of 1812 costumes, participate in hands-on activities in the cookhouse and barracks and learn about garrison life. There will also be a scavenger hunt.
Fort Amherstburg was built in 1796 near the mouth of the Detroit River as the headquarters for British forces in southwestern Upper Canada during the War of 1812.
Following the war, Fort Malden was erected and then reinforced in 1838-1840 after it served again as a centre for the British defence during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837-1838.
The Soldier for a Day camp runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $24.50 and participants are asked to bring a picnic-style lunch.
Advance registration is required. Call 519-736-5416.
The day camp is being offered by Parks Canada on Monday’s Family Day holiday for children ages six to 12 at the Amherstburg fort.
Kids will get to dress up as soldiers in War of 1812 costumes, participate in hands-on activities in the cookhouse and barracks and learn about garrison life. There will also be a scavenger hunt.
Fort Amherstburg was built in 1796 near the mouth of the Detroit River as the headquarters for British forces in southwestern Upper Canada during the War of 1812.
Following the war, Fort Malden was erected and then reinforced in 1838-1840 after it served again as a centre for the British defence during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837-1838.
The Soldier for a Day camp runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $24.50 and participants are asked to bring a picnic-style lunch.
Advance registration is required. Call 519-736-5416.
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