‘This story broke our hearts.’ A landmark report underlines the urgency for overhauling a system that failed families.
[Editor’s note: This story contains depictions of child abuse and violent death.]
The Tyee: How does an 11-year-old boy with tousled dark hair, sparkling eyes and an infectious grin go from loving soccer and Archie comics to being isolated and abused in foster care, where he eventually dies?
While his two caregivers have already been found guilty of manslaughter and assault, a new report by B.C. Representative for Children and Youth Jennifer Charlesworth finds that changes to B.C.’s so-called child welfare system might have prevented the death of “Colby” — an Indigenous child whose real name and nation are not identified in the report.
“The provincial care system completely and utterly failed this child and his family and the result of that was the loss of a beautiful little boy and so many lives being forever changed by this trauma,” Charlesworth said Tuesday when the report, “Don’t Look Away,” was released.
“This story broke our hearts,” she said. “But it also built our conviction that in B.C. we can do better.”
‘We will build a system that is more proactive’
B.C.’s children’s minister, Grace Lore, apologized and promised a better system — one that lifts families up and focuses on prevention rather than protection.
“We will build a system that is more proactive, that is more flexible, that meets people where they are at,” Lore said.
Mitzi Dean, who was the children’s minister when Colby died, was replaced by Lore in January after calls for her resignation. Dean is now minister of state for child care.
Charlesworth presented the report to about 150 people, including Indigenous leaders and social service workers, at an event Tuesday at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Lore and others spoke at the event.
One of the Indigenous Elders in the room expressed skepticism.
“I will see if it’s good work. I think only time will tell us if it’s good work,” said Grand Chief Willie Charlie. “Writing [the report] is only a part of it. It’s what you do with it that matters.”
Inside Colby’s life
Colby was born with significant health problems and was the surviving sibling of a twin pregnancy. He required surgeries and medical interventions for his heart, kidneys and lungs as well as ongoing medical care from specialists.
His maternal grandmother remembers his fascination with monster trucks, and he also loved soccer, Minecraft and Archie comics.
“One of the most beautiful things we learned about Colby was his generous heart and spirit,” Charlesworth said. “He loved learning, loved school.”
Colby’s parents split up when he was less than a year old, and his mother, who was raised in a chaotic household herself, met another partner. The household was marked by poverty, substance use and violence, the report says.
His mother suffered from postpartum depression and other mental health challenges. She was frequently hospitalized. She had five more children, all of whom were eventually taken into care.
Colby, who was the second oldest of his siblings, was placed with two of his sisters into the care of his mother’s cousin and her partner.
During their time in that home, Colby and his middle sister both stopped going to school and medical appointments. Colby’s social worker didn’t see him in person during the final seven months of his life, despite a requirement that children in care should be seen by social workers at least every 90 days. Family members tried to arrange visits but didn’t get any response.
Colby was abused and tortured in the months leading up to his death, which is believed to have occurred after his mother’s cousin beat him for nine minutes on Feb. 26, 2021, an incident that was caught on camera and that left him unresponsive. On Feb. 28 he was declared brain dead and removed from life support, after which he died, the report says.
Twenty months after Colby died, his mother died from toxic drug poisoning.
Missed opportunities to intervene
Charlesworth’s yearlong investigation found there were many opportunities for intervention that were not taken. There were at least 40 points where opportunities to help Colby were missed. Health-care workers and teachers were concerned about Colby, but his caregivers isolated him from school and medical appointments and denied requests from family members to visit.
“That’s on all of us,” Charlesworth said.
“[Our] intent was to challenge the implicit colonial and racist mindsets and systems that underpin current systems and that influenced the way [Colby] and his family were treated,” the report says.
Those mindsets, including the intergenerational trauma of residential schools and the ’60s Scoop, have contributed to a child welfare system where Indigenous children are vastly overrepresented, making up 67 per cent of children in care in B.C., while Indigenous people are only about six per centof the overall population.
Calls for a collaborative, culturally appropriate system
Since 2019, when the federal government passed Bill C-92, many First Nations have been resuming jurisdiction over child and family support systems.
Confusion over roles and responsibilities during this transition may have led to staff at B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development not doing due diligence in placing Colby and his siblings with his mother’s cousin’s family, the report says.
“Until full jurisdiction is being exercised by a nation on child welfare, the ministry still has a legal obligation to the children who are in care, so it doesn’t matter if there is a transition happening, you still need to follow through on what your policies dictate,” said Cheryl Casimer, political executive of the First Nations Summit.
Casimer grew up in care and is a residential school survivor. She also has had her own grandchildren in her care since last summer.
A new system that is collaborative and culturally appropriate will demand accountability from everyone, including government, agencies, departments, First Nations and partners, Casimer said.
“There is a child somewhere today who is hungry, who is hurt, who is suffering from mental health issues, who is hoping an adult or someone is going to come along and help them,” Casimer said.
“And I know that because I was one of them.”
Change that could happen now
Casimer would like to see social workers’ caseloads decreased and the frequency of required visits with children in care increased — changes that she says could be implemented immediately.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, who grew up in foster care, said he strongly supports the report, and that the future of child welfare must centre on jurisdiction.
“There is no other approach that will work. We have been bogged down in neocolonial structures, principles and values and it hasn’t worked,” Phillip said.
Colby’s death wasn’t an outlier, Charlesworth said, noting that her office received more than 6,000 reports of deaths or injuries in the past year impacting young people in care or receiving government services, with more than 3,000 of those being critical injuries or deaths that her office would investigate.
The Sensitive and Powerful Act of Reporting on Child Welfare
She wants to see a system focused on child well-being and helping kids thrive.
“We can’t get there using an old system that dates from colonial models of the 1950s and ’60s and that has ingrained certain ways of being that are deeply insidious. We have to create a new one,” Charlesworth said.
Specific recommendations from Charlesworth include:
- addressing violence and supporting healing from historical violence;
- supporting families while they are together before a crisis happens;
- making sure kinship carers have adequate support, similar to what foster parents receive; and
- supporting the transition to jurisdiction with both resources and time.
Lore said she is “all in” for this work.
“My commitment is to act. I acknowledge this work is not going to be easy and it is not going to happen overnight, but it is going to happen,” Lore said. “This work starts today.”
The province says it is hiring an Indigenous child welfare director, will create a cross-government committee focused on vulnerable children, youth and families and is considering creating an Indigenous-led body to support First Nations jurisdiction over child welfare, Lore said.
“I am determined to break down those barriers, so that when people who are working with families — like teachers and health-care workers — have concerns, they can share information and know who to share it with,” Lore said.
“Every single child in our province deserves safety, love and belonging.”
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Given that Lore is fairly new in the minister’s role, Casimer is “cautiously hopeful” to see what happens.
“I think she was genuine in her comments and the words she shared,” Casimer said. “I don’t know how you can stand up in public and make those commitments and say it’s supported by the premier and not follow up on it. That would be bad faith.”
Kate Feeney, director of litigation at West Coast LEAF, an organization that uses the law to advance gender equality, said the report’s recommendations, while well-intentioned, may increase surveillance and control over families.
“This isn’t a time to double down on surveillance and control, because what we know about surveillance and control is that these approaches only empower a coercive system that isn’t working for families and is tearing them apart,” Feeney said.
“Real transformative change will require us to rebuild an approach to family well-being from the ground up.”
Tracy Sherlock The Tyee
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist and journalism instructor based in Vancouver. She is the editorial lead for the Spotlight: Child Welfare project.
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