22 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

6-year-old drowns in Victoria pond while in MCFD care; fundraiser launched

He was taken to hospital but died after two days on life support

https://www.vicnews....aunched-7324062

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 February 2024 - 02:13 PM.

[max.bravo]

That should be enough to take down this government, but sadly it won't have much of an effect. How very, very sad. I hope this parent is able to sue the pants off someone... not that it would really help. But some government officials' heads need to roll for this.

[Victoria Watcher]

Young people in government care will have access to new and increased supports until the age of 27.

Budget 2022 investments better support them as they transition to adulthood. Read more.

Learn more about the SAJE supports and services in this infographic.


https://www2.gov.bc....uth-transitions


The one above did not make it to 27.

Just 6,

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 February 2024 - 04:27 PM.

[max.bravo]

One of the parent's has a viewable FB page. Heartbreaking to look over their posts.

 

I understand that privacy legislation (and common decency) prevent sharing why the children were removed from the home.

 

But given the level of "care" provided by the government, I'd like to know just how much of a threat these parents were to their children's safety and wellbeing.

[Nparker]

Young people in government care will have access to new and increased supports until the age of 27....

27?!?   

If someone still needs "supports" at this age, then they are a lost cause and the state will be required to "support" them for the rest of their lives. 

[JimV]

Well, let’s see.  Mitzi Dean’s head rolled after a similar case.  Grace has barely had enough time in the hot seat to warm her buns.  Will Too Tall fire another female minister or are we getting too close to the election for another sacrificial lamb?

[spanky123]

27?!?

If someone still needs "supports" at this age, then they are a lost cause and the state will be required to "support" them for the rest of their lives.

Many people in Government care are disabled. They don’t suddenly become ‘enabled’ when they turn 27.

[Nparker]

This new SAJE policies don't seem to be directed to people who are disabled.

Edited by Nparker, 29 February 2024 - 07:57 PM.

[max.bravo]

Well, let’s see. Mitzi Dean’s head rolled after a similar case. Grace has barely had enough time in the hot seat to warm her buns. Will Too Tall fire another female minister or are we getting too close to the election for another sacrificial lamb?

It was a white child, so the shame ritual isn’t required in this case. According to the doctrine, thats only needed if the child is racialized.

[m3m]

The kids that are raised in foster care or under the care of the state really have tough times transitioning into adulthood. There is a clear pipeline to homelessness, criminality, drug use, mental health issues. Lots of supports suddenly stop the moment they turn 19. Extending them seems like a no-brainer. Im all for anything that can avoid the worst case scenario.

NParker, your comments are unnecessarily cruel. They’re not lost causes. By and large they’re kids that had some of the worst childhoods imaginable.

[Mike K.]

Or they make very bad choices and the parents can no longer care for them, and/or they have to be removed from their community for causing problems.

[m3m]

That surely must be a minuscule number

[Mike K.]

Lots of rowdy pre-teens and teens out there. Not all can be sent off to a family member, sometimes they have to be handed over to an authority figure.

[spanky123]

Or they make very bad choices and the parents can no longer care for them, and/or they have to be removed from their community for causing problems.

 

There are some kids that go into care because their parents are abusive, junkies or alcoholics and cannot care or their kids, but there are also a lot of kids that go into care due to no fault of the kids or the parents. 

 

Lots of kids are born with disabilities which can have severe behavioral issues and/or which require 24x7 support. In many cases it is a single mom (because the dad has skipped) who is left caring for the child and they become overwhelmed/exhausted. 

 

I don't know the case here but we need to avoid jumping to the conclusion that the parent was some deadbeat. 

[Mike K.]

Right.

Sometimes it’s the religious beliefs of the parents. Which may play a role here.

[lanforod]

Thats all irrelevant too in this case. What's relevant is that the foster care was criminally negligent.

[spanky123]

Thats all irrelevant too in this case. What's relevant is that the foster care was criminally negligent.

 

I don't think we know that yet.

[lanforod]

fact: an unfenced pool

fact: drowned.

 

Yes, I think we know enough. I'm not a judge though.

[Victoria Watcher]

A former employee of B.C.’s representative for children and youth is being threatened with legal action for speaking out about the 2018 death of a six-year-old Indigenous boy in Port Alberni, her lawyer says.

 

Jason Gratl says his client, Jody Bauche, is legally protected to speak about matters of Dontay Patrick Lucas’s death, as any oath of confidentiality she took as part of her public service job is “overridden by the public importance and life and death importance for children in custody.”

 

Bauche was an investigative analyst for Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s representative for children and youth. Bauche conducted a review into the death of Lucas, who died from blunt force trauma to the brain after he was transferred out of foster care back into the home of his mother Rykel Frank, 28, and stepfather Mitchell Frank, 29.

 

The transfer was overseen by Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services, an Indigenous child welfare agency recognized by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

 

In May 2022, the Franks were charged with first-degree murder. The pair pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a courtroom last November and will be sentenced in May.

 

Bauche received a letter sent on behalf of Charlesworth in early February, claiming she had “engaged in the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information obtained in the course of [her] employment, in direct violation of your oath of confidentiality, your contractual obligations.”

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...s-death-8386328

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 March 2024 - 08:03 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Amid the tragic drowning of six-year-old Oliver Ratchford while in foster care, his family is calling on the province to answer questions surrounding the boy’s death.

According to the family, the mother received a call explaining her son was found unresponsive after he had been playing unsupervised by a pond and fell, just four days after he had been placed in foster care. in Victoria. He was taken to hospital but died after two days on life support, in the early morning on Feb. 28.

Mother Jade Ratchford issued a written statement Friday (March 1), calling on the province to investigate the care of her son, as well as review the process required to remove a child from their parent or guardian’s care. Additionally, the family’s statement requested that an oversight body be made to hold the Ministry of Children and Family Development accountable.

According to Ratchford’s statement, a MCFD team lead and Victoria police officers showed up at the Apostolic Reformed Church in Victoria on Feb. 22 and handcuffed John Ratchford, who is the priest and father of Oliver. She claims that the MCFD did not give information as to why the children were being taken beyond citing Section 13 of the Child, Family and Community Service Act, which serves as a list of various circumstances where children are presumed to need protection from their parents or guardian.

https://www.vicnews....f-son-6-7324866



Something is not quite adding up here. I don’t think a guy gets placed in handcuffs unless he is being arrested. And police usually disclose why you are being arrested.





In the afternoon of that day, Jade says the family received an email from MCFD, but didn’t disclose what was included in that information.



Hmmmmmm.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 March 2024 - 01:04 PM.