Baby H is in her fifth foster home and family services has stopped communicating with family says grandfather

Baby H, the B.C. infant who was seized from hospital after medical staff reported her mother was neglecting her 90 minutes after having a C-section is back in a stranger’s care after her aunt asked for a break.

The child, who is now five weeks old, hasn’t lived with her parents in that time and has been bounced from foster home to foster home to an aunt and now to another non-Indigenous foster home, says the grandfather.

More >> Baby H is in her fifth foster home and family services has stopped communicating with family says grandfather

EDITORIAL: Sad legacy continues of taking Indigenous children from their parents

New mothers anywhere in this country can likely relate to the feelings of apprehension and anxiety that come along with the joy and elation of child birth.

So, on top of that, imagine this scenario. Rather than nurses coming to take the newborn to the hospital’s nursery for a checkup, it’s a social worker who has come to take the baby into foster care for reasons largely unknown to the parents.

More >> EDITORIAL: Sad legacy continues of taking Indigenous children from their parents

• B.C. paying foster parents instead of supporting struggling families, experts say

‘You’re constantly drowning’ in cases and paperwork, says B.C. social worker

Social workers entrusted with protecting kids in B.C. are often on the front lines of some of society’s stickiest, most deeply entrenched problems: poverty, addiction and, for many Indigenous families whose children remain grossly overrepresented in the child-welfare system, intergenerational trauma wrought by decades of racist, colonial policies.

But a recent investigation by the collaborative journalism project Spotlight: Child Welfare found that many of these social workers are failing to meet basic requirements for kids' care in B.C.

More >> ‘You’re constantly drowning’ in cases and paperwork, says B.C. social worker

B.C. paying foster parents instead of supporting struggling families, experts say

When it comes to child welfare, social work experts and parents in B.C. say we’re investing in the wrong end of the system — pouring money into foster care instead of offering adequate support to vulnerable families, many of whom are Indigenous.

“We’re willing to give strangers just about anything to look after kids,” says Jeannine Carriere, a social work professor at the University of Victoria, who is Métis. “But we have this blockage when it comes to supporting families.”

More >> B.C. paying foster parents instead of supporting struggling families, experts say

What If We Gave Struggling Families as Much Support as Foster Parents?

When it comes to child welfare, social work experts and parents in B.C. say we’re investing in the wrong end of the system — pouring money into foster care instead of offering adequate support to vulnerable families, many of whom are Indigenous.

More >> What If We Gave Struggling Families as Much Support as Foster Parents?

'I felt robbed': Indigenous mother says baby's apprehension was wrong

The parents want this story told. However, for legal reasons and at the request of the parents, the CBC is not identifying the family by name.

E. felt elated and exhausted. A day earlier, she'd given birth to a baby girl.

Her pregnancy and childbirth had been difficult, even turbulent. But as the 26-year-old Gitxsan woman recovered in her room at the B.C. Women's Hospital last July, she felt relief.

More >> 'I felt robbed': Indigenous mother says baby's apprehension was wrong

More lawsuits being against former Kelowna social worker

Seven more lawsuits will likely be filed next week against the social worker accused of stealing from at risk aboriginal youths in foster care in Kelowna.

Last fall, Vancouver lawyer Jason Gratl filed a number of lawsuits against Robert Riley Saunders, the Ministry of Children and Family Development and Interior Savings Credit Union, alleging that Saunders set up joint bank accounts with children in care, kicked them out of secure housing and kept their support payments for himself.

More >> More lawsuits being against former Kelowna social worker

B.C. social worker accused of punishing Indigenous youth for sexual assault while in foster care

An Indigenous woman who is suing two social workers as a result of treatment she claims she received as a youth in care of the B.C. child welfare system has added a new allegation.

The woman, who we are not identifying to protect her privacy, now alleges social worker Siobhan Stynes punished her for reporting a sexual assault while in foster care.

More >> B.C. social worker accused of punishing Indigenous youth for sexual assault while in foster care

Keeping families together: Legal and advocacy efforts helping parents

Increasing the chances that Indigenous and other families in crisis can stay together is a primary focus of a new service offered by the Legal Services Society of B.C.

If there’s a possibility your children may be removed from your home by the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), or they have already been placed in foster care, you may be eligible for help from the new Parents Legal Centre (PLC) in Smithers. The centre also services clients in Houston and Hazelton in child protection matters.

More >> Keeping families together: Legal and advocacy efforts helping parents

Child custody assessments under review after complaints about former psychologist's methods

A former Vancouver psychologist who has served as an expert witness in hundreds of court cases has agreed to review his assessments in a series of child custody cases in response to complaints about his methods.

Dr. Allan Posthuma signed an undertaking with the College of Psychologists of B.C. on New Year's Day, consenting to consult with a colleague in a review of his reports in five cases concerning parenting and custody disputes. He's also agreed to accept feedback on how to improve his practice.

More >> Child custody assessments under review after complaints about former psychologist's methods

19 and cut off: B.C. foster youth plead for change to system

British Columbia’s government has pledged to do more to support former foster youth – but it still cuts off aid at a younger age than some other provinces, leaving many at risk of poverty, drug use and suicide. Meet the young people urging the province for more time

More >> 19 and cut off: B.C. foster youth plead for change to system

Facebook post re-unites siblings separated by adoption

A Coquitlam man has found a half-sister he didn’t even know he had — and it’s all thanks to social media.

Six months after Rychelle Clairmont-Dipalo posted on Facebook looking for her half-brother who was given up for adoption as a baby, her dream has come true. Shaun Bons, 39, was scrolling through Facebook when he saw the post, which had his birth date and birthplace, and thought ‘what are the odds.’

More >> Facebook post re-unites siblings separated by adoption

Lawsuit accuses ex-social worker of tapping into youth’s funds

A former youth in care is suing the B.C. government and a former social worker accused of stealing funds designated for children entrusted to his care.

As a ward of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, K.L. bounced between foster and group homes in the Kelowna area throughout his childhood before being assigned to social worker Robert Riley Saunders.

More >> Lawsuit accuses ex-social worker of tapping into youth’s funds

One Woman’s Campaign to End Indigenous Child Apprehensions

For a decade, Patricia Delisle has been helping Indigenous women in British Columbia’s Cowichan Valley at risk of having their children apprehended by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

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Now she wants to go farther and turn the valley into a “no-apprehension zone.”


More >> One Woman’s Campaign to End Indigenous Child Apprehensions

Legal Centres Level the Playing Field for Parents Fighting to Keep Their Children

Where do you turn for help if you’re fighting the Ministry of Children and Family Development over the future of your child?

The courts are complicated, costly and slow, lawyers are expensive and legal aid limited, as noted in the first part of this series. Navigating the system is a challenge for parents in British Columbia, many already struggling with poverty and other issues. For Indigenous families, whose children are eight times more likely to be apprehended, the challenges can be even greater.

More >> Legal Centres Level the Playing Field for Parents Fighting to Keep Their Children

Lawsuits allege B.C. government social worker stole from foster children

Lawsuits have been filed on behalf of two youth in British Columbia Supreme Court alleging a provincial social worker siphoned off thousands of dollars in financial benefits from children in care.

Both actions name social worker Robert Riley Saunders, the Ministry of Children and Family Development and Interior Savings Financial Services Ltd., alleging the Indigenous children were removed from a stable environment to an unstable living arrangement so that their benefits could be stolen from them.

More >> Lawsuits allege B.C. government social worker stole from foster children

Teen allegedly ripped off by social worker ‘hurt,’ ‘angry’

A victim of a Kelowna social worker accused of stealing thousands of dollars from vulnerable children in care wants justice.

Lawsuits filed in B.C. Supreme Court on behalf of two youths allege the social worker took financial benefits from children in care.

More >> Teen allegedly ripped off by social worker ‘hurt,’ ‘angry’

Lawsuit accuses B.C. social worker of stealing from vulnerable First Nations teens

A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against a B.C. social worker accused of abusing his position by siphoning funds from the bank account of a vulnerable First Nations teenager.

The B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim accuses Robert Riley Saunders of moving the girl from a stable home into an independent living situation that would see her collect money from the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

More >> Lawsuit accuses B.C. social worker of stealing from vulnerable First Nations teens

B.C. youth aging out of foster care call for serious child welfare reform

More than 40 B.C. youth who have experienced living in government care descended on the legislature Wednesday, calling for changes to the child welfare system.

The group met with multiple cabinet ministers and youth transition organizations as part of Fostering Change, an advocacy campaign, to push for more comprehensive supports for youth who are set to leave care, as opposed to the current “needs-based funding” approach.

More >> B.C. youth aging out of foster care call for serious child welfare reform

B.C. youth aging out of foster care call for serious child welfare reform

More than 40 B.C. youth who have experienced living in government care descended on the legislature Wednesday, calling for changes to the child welfare system.

The group met with multiple cabinet ministers and youth transition organizations as part of Fostering Change, an advocacy campaign, to push for more comprehensive supports for youth who are set to leave care, as opposed to the current “needs-based funding” approach.

More >> B.C. youth aging out of foster care call for serious child welfare reform