By Melanie Jacob
Journal Editor
It's taken almost four years, but results of probing into the 2009 death of a toddler while in foster care have compelled recommendations that foster homes be licensed.
The results were released on Sept. 16 to Saskatchewan's Legislative Assembly in a report called Lost in the System: Jake's Story. It was written by Bob Pringle, the advocate for children and youth for the province of Saskatchewan, whose job it was to investigate where the system failed.
"We realized that the ongoing contact policies (with foster families) aren't being met due to a resourcing issue," said Pringle. "In our view, licensing would provide greater accountability for the ministry and the parents, improve public confidence, and ensure the rights, interests, and well being of children are being respected."
The report focuses on the investigation into the death of a 15-month-old boy by the name of Jake in foster care in 2009. While the cause of his death remains unknown, many questions were raised when unreported injuries and developmental handicaps were discovered. It was these concerns that resulted in the call for stronger fostering regulations.
The call for licensing was surprising for many people since they had already expected it to be in place like it is for senior care homes and child daycare centres. According to Pringle, however, their organization had been recommending that option as early as 2009 with the release of their report, Breach of Trust.
Since the report's release, Pringle says the ministry has made many improvements according to those proposals. There are less overcrowded foster homes, more first-aid training and more safety supports for foster kids. Unfortunately, however, licensing has been one of the main recommendations the provincial government has been hesitating over.
"The ministry should know by now whether or not they support licensing. Either they do or they don't," said Pringle. "The foster parents I've talked to tell me they would feel more confident being licensed. They're just trying to open their heart and their homes."
Foster parents already have to undergo an assessment process before they can foster children. Licensing would just add another layer of protection for all involved parties. Moreover, the government already has a model in The Child Care Act and The Child Care Regulations. Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario have all already installed licensing and Pringle says even MLA Donna Harpauer has said she supports it.
"The ministry needs to take the next step to ensure there's consistency across the province in standard of care," said Pringle. "But if they're going to say we don't have to (have licensing) because they have good precautions in place, then we're not satisfied."
Unfortunately, adding in this standardized regulation would mean more work for the ministry, which could compound the problem since a lack of resources are what contributed to the situation in the first place.
"The idea is that the ministry is always paying attention to their capacity and observe how they're managing," said Pringle. "But usually, they're so short of resources that they ask a foster family to take a child for a week or two and then it just stays that way."
Pringle's advocacy organization doesn't want licensing for licensing's sake. The licensing they're recommending would require legislation that necessitated provisions for the children's developmental, nutrition, health, hygiene, etc. needs, all of which might be difficult to monitor without sufficient resources.
To supplement this, the advocacy group supports more investment into front-end programs and prevention services that would keep families together and prevent more children from going into foster care.
"The foster care system is serving us well, but that doesn't mean bad things aren't happening," said Pringle. "The ministry has good policies, but they weren't followed by the staff (in Jake's case) It's the responsibility of the ministry to support those foster families when they take children."
Thus, rather than just having a thorough application process and leaving it at that, Pringle's advocacy group is recommending ongoing contact, communication, and support so as to make the situation easier for the foster families and the children they take in.
