This release was issued under a previous government.

That’s why I welcome the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald’s joint series on the tragic deaths of children in care — this is an important and heartbreaking issue that merits public discussion and debate. The stories told are a reminder that we need to do everything we can to protect Alberta’s children.

We have been working hard. The Journal and Herald looked at case data from 1999-2009, but three significant changes have happened over the last two years:

  1. In 2012, we created the independent Office of the Child and Youth Advocate.  Under our legislation, the Advocate must be notified of all serious injuries and deaths of children receiving services (whether they are in the province’s care or not) and can access all government information relating to the child in question. 
  2. We established the Child and Family Services Council for Quality Assurance. The Council is made up of experts and advocates who are appointed by government but who work independently with Human Services to identify effective practices and make recommendations to the Minister for improving and strengthening child intervention services.
  3. In 2012, our government began reporting all deaths of children in care, regardless of their cause.  This information is available in the Human Services Annual Report as well as the Child and Youth Advocate’s Annual Report. 

In addition, every time a child in the care or custody of Human Services dies — no matter the cause — the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducts an investigation.

But, when it comes to protecting our children, we can always do better — one death of a child in care is one too many.  This week’s debate in the legislature is a strong reminder that we can all play an important role in that process. That’s why I have invited our opposition colleagues to join a ministerial roundtable to discuss critical questions raised about the death of children in care. Like my opposition colleagues, I want to have confidence that we’re publicly reporting the right information about these deaths and following the right processes when they happen. My hope is that our ministerial roundtable will table a report in the legislature, for debate.

In addition, before that roundtable takes place, I have also offered my opposition critics access to a full, in-depth briefing about the measures we currently have in place to prevent deaths from happening and to respond when tragedy strikes.

We’ve been working hard to protect all of Alberta’s children. And we’re going to keep moving forward.  That’s why, this week, I committed to publicly tracking and reporting our progress toward meeting all recommendations — whether they’re from the Child and Family Services Council for Quality Assurance, the Child Advocate or the Chief Medical Examiner — that relate to children in care.  I want Albertans to know how we’re doing and have confidence that their child welfare system is protecting and nurturing Alberta’s most vulnerable children.

There is always more to do. And we’re going to keep making our system better for Alberta’s children, together.

Backgrounder

What happens when an incident occurs?

Whenever there is an incident involving a child in care, Human Services reflects on our practice to review where we did well and identify areas of improvement for our Ministry as well as our cross-ministry and community service delivery partners.

  • Every death of a child in care is reported by the ministry to the Medical Examiner who then notifies the Fatality Review Board.
  • The Fatality Review Board may make a recommendation to the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General to call a fatality inquiry.
  • The Child and Family Services Council for Quality Assurance is notified of all serious injuries and deaths of children in care.
  • The Child and Youth Advocate is notified of all serious injuries and deaths of any child receiving services.
  • The Advocate may undertake an independent review and investigate systemic issues if he believes it will be in the best interest of the public.
  • Any learnings from these events are shared with Human Services staff.

Since 2012, in response to requests from the public for more information, my ministry has reported all deaths of children in care.  This information is available in the Human Services Annual Report as well as the Child and Youth Advocate’s Annual Report.

 Prior to 2012, our annual reports did not report the deaths of children who die in care due to natural causes, medical conditions, or accidents (like a motor vehicle accident or an accidental fall).  We also did not report the deaths of infants who came into care with pre-existing, severe medical conditions that make them fragile and often led to death. 

Child and Youth Advocate

  • The independent Office of the Child and Youth Advocate was established on April 1, 2012. 
  • The Advocate is notified of all deaths of children receiving services (in care and not in care – including Family Enhancement).
  • The Advocate may independently review or investigate systemic issues related to any child receiving services if he believes a review or investigation is warranted, or in the public interest.
  • The Ministry receives the reports and takes action as required, including sharing any learnings with staff. Of the systemic issues raised in previous annual reports, many of the noted policies have been implemented and the majority of the issues identified by the Advocate have been resolved.
  • The Child and Youth Advocate has suggested that the Council for Quality Assurance partner with the Health Quality Council to look at access to mental health services for children and youth in care is interesting and something we will explore. 
  • We have forwarded this recommendation to the Council for Quality Assurance for their consideration.  The Child and Youth Advocate is a member of this council and will be included in their discussions about this recommendation.
  • In the meantime, Human Services is delivering mental health first aid training and sponsors a Children’s Mental Health Learning series so that we can provide additional support for frontline staff and caregivers who are working with children and youth who have mental health challenges.

Council for Quality Assurance

The Child and Family Services Council for Quality Assurance was established in the fall of 2011 and then firmly established in legislation as recommended by the 2010 Child Intervention System Review and supported by the 2011 External Review Panel. 

  • The Council is notified of all serious injuries and deaths of children in care and can call an external review of any death of a child in care.
  • The Council is a multidisciplinary body of experts who work with the Ministry to identify effective practices and make recommendations to the Minister for improving and strengthening child intervention services.
  • As per a recommendation from the Council for Quality Assurance, we are developing a formal mechanism to track action on recommendations and implementation status.

The members of the Council are:

  • Dr. Lionel Dibden (Chair), Pediatrician Medical Director, Child and Adolescent Protection Centre, Stollery Children’s Hospital
  • Del Graff, Child and Youth Advocate
  • Dr. Gayla Rogers, former Dean, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary
  • Donna Wallace, Director, Public Health Nursing, Alberta Health Services Calgary Zone
  • Staff Sergeant Kent Henderson, Child Protection Section, Edmonton Police Service
  • Eva Cardinal, Cree Elder
  • Marlene Graham, Judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta

Children First Act

The Children First Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly in May 2013. 

The Act updates and amends legislation and enhances the tools, process and policies that impact how government and service providers deliver programs and services for children and youth.

  • One of the key amendments establishes a Family Violence Death Review Committee. Children who are exposed to violence in the home or the loss of parent due to family violence can be profoundly affected. Preventing and reducing family violence is a vital part of protecting children.
  • Information sharing provisions make it clear that there is an expectation that all individuals working for the health, safety and education of a child shall share information appropriately in the best interests of the child.
  • A Children's Charter will be developed, and all policies of government relating to children will be reviewed.  Both the Charter and the reviews will be brought before the Legislature.
  • Specific amendments were made to a number of acts to provide more certainty in dealing with situations where children are endangered.
  • The concept of a designated "Child Intervention Worker" with specified requirements as to training, skills and expertise and specific delegated authorities was established and will be made effective as the regulations are developed.
  • The Together We Raise Tomorrow public engagement held over the summer are informing the creation of a Children's Charter, and strategies around eliminating child poverty and improving early childhood development.

Information Sharing

  • Sharing information across jurisdictions and authorities involved in the child intervention system is critical.
  • We are strengthening our information sharing strategy to ensure information sharing practices within government and with service agencies and partners (school boards, Alberta Health Services for example) support the best decisions possible for the health, education and safety of children and families.
  • Recommendations from the 2010 Child Intervention System Review and the 2011 Calgary Expert Panel highlighted the value of sharing lessons learned from critical incidents with those who work directly with children and families, so that any necessary changes in practice can be made.
  • Every death of a child in care is reported by the ministry to the Medical Examiner who then notifies the Fatality Review Board.

Medical Examiner/Fatality Review Board

  • The independent Office of the Chief Medical Examiner must be notified whenever there is a death of a child who was involved with the ministry.
  • The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducts an investigation whenever a child’s death occurs suddenly or cannot be explained, or when the child is in the care or custody of Human Services.
  •  The investigation is held to determine general circumstances around the child’s death.
  • The Medical Examiner reports to the Fatality Review Board.
  • All deaths of children in care must also be reviewed by the Fatality Review Board for consideration for a public fatality inquiry unless the board is satisfied that the death was due to natural causes.
  • The Fatality Review Board is responsible for reviewing certain deaths investigated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and recommending to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General whether a public fatality inquiry should be held. The board is appointed by the lieutenant governor in council and is composed of a lawyer, a physician, and a layperson.
  • Cases reviewed by the board generally include accidental deaths (where recommendations could be made at a public fatality inquiry for the prevention of similar deaths in the future), cases where the cause and manner of death remain undetermined after a complete investigation, and deaths of individuals who are in police custody, in prison, certified under the Mental Health Act, or under the Director of Child Welfare's guardianship or in the director's custody.
  • The Fatality Review Board may recommend a public fatality inquiry if there is a possibility of preventing similar deaths in the future or if there is a need for public protection or clarification of circumstances surrounding a case.
  • The Minister of Justice and Solicitor General calls the fatality inquiry, which is a public process overseen by a judge. The inquiry establishes cause, manner, time, place and circumstances of death, as well as the identity of the deceased.
  • Judges may make recommendations to prevent similar occurrences, but are prohibited from making findings of legal responsibility.
  • The Fatality Inquiries Act requires that a written report is made available to the public. The ministry provides a written public response to each report.

Alberta Vulnerable Infant Response Team (AVIRT)

AVIRT, a multi-disciplinary team (child intervention, health and law enforcement) that supports families known to the ministry who have very young infants (up to four months old).  AVIRT is operating in Alberta out of two sites:

  • Calgary and Area CFSA: AVIRT runs out of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre and has been in operation since May 2011. In the last year, Calgary also added an Aboriginal AVIRT team that operates out of the CFSA’s Aboriginal Services site.  Since inception, AVIRT team has assessed 723 children.
  • Edmonton and Area CFSA: AVIRT runs out of the Crisis Unit and has been in operation since January 2012.  Since inception, this AVIRT team has assessed 262 children.

We also support multi-disciplinary approaches to dealing with child abuse through the Zebra Child Protection Centre in Edmonton and Caribou Child and Youth Centre in Grande Prairie.