Ministry admits it took 29 days before caseworker went looking for teen, despite warning she was in danger
CBC News: Almost one year ago, 14-year-old Stellayna Severight was found dead of a drug overdose in what the coroner’s report describes as an “unkempt” apartment building “with drug paraphernalia found scattered in the living room area.”
The teenager, who was in the care of the Ministry of Social Services at the time, was pronounced dead on May 30, 2022. She had methamphetamine, fentanyl and other drugs in her system, according to the coroner’s report provided to the family. Stellayna was also suffering from pneumonia, which the coroner said likely contributed to her death.
On Thursday, Stellayna’s mother Angela went to the Saskatchewan Legislature to beg Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky for transparency about why her daughter died while his ministry was acting as her legal parent. She also wanted to know what the government will do to make sure it never happens again. “I don’t want her to die in vain,” she told the media after question period. “I’m not going to let this go until there’s some kind of accountability, some change.”
Last year, CBC reported that on April 28, one month before Stellayna died, the ministry was warned that she was living in a dangerous, drug-infested apartment in the inner city.
Bonnie Ford, who at the time worked for a street outreach program, said she contacted Stellayna’s social worker and reported that the teenager was in severe danger, and should immediately be picked up and placed in a youth detox.
That didn’t happen.
In an email to Angela last year, the ministry said that in the weeks following Ford’s warning, the social worker sent a few texts inquiring about Stellayna’s whereabouts, but failed to locate her. Then on May 27, almost one month after Ford’s initial warning, the ministry reported Stellayna missing to police. Officers found her dead three days later.
Ford said she and Stellayna’s family are baffled that it took the ministry so long to act. “Why did they not listen to what I was saying?” Ford said to the CBC during its investigation. “I thought maybe they would have done their job — maybe Stellayna might have had a chance.”
‘They hide behind privacy’: Opposition
Angela’s pleas for information were echoed by Opposition NDP social services critic Meara Conway in the legislature Thursday, in an emotional series of questions to Makowsky. “What does the minister have to say to Angela about the ministry’s failure to keep Stellayna safe?” asked Conway. “What will the minister do to fix this broken system?”
“Unfortunately, current legislation prohibits me from speaking to situations of this matter,” Makowsky replied. “However, I know that there’s a process that the ministry takes to ensure that there’s a thorough investigation.”
Conway pointed out that the government is investigating itself, and said it may be inclined to hide facts from the family and the public. She said Makowsky owes a public explanation for why his ministry waited so long before reporting Stellayna missing to police. Conway said Stellayna’s death points to systemic problems. “There’s many things about this case on the public record which he could now talk about,” she said. “I’m very concerned at the lack of transparency. I think it’s something this ministry hides behind. They hide behind privacy in order to avoid accountability.”
Ministry operating under a ‘veil of secrecy’: privacy commissioner
Saskatchewan’s information and privacy commissioner Ronald Kruzeniski has not offered any direct comments about Stellayna’s case. However, he levelled sharp criticisms at the Ministry of Social Services in a 2021 investigative report on a case where another woman was seeking information about her family. He concluded the ministry had an “arbitrary secretive approach to providing information.”
In that case, the complainant was looking for records about how social services treated her now deceased Métis mother. She wanted to know why her mom was taken into the care of the ministry decades ago when she was a child. She also wanted details about sexual assaults she said her mom reported suffering while in care.
According to the commissioner’s report, the ministry repeatedly denied her requests for any information without explanation, other than to say it lacked the “legal authority to release the requested records.” In correspondence, the complainant reminded the ministry that its own legislation, the Child and Family Service Act, says that the minister has the discretion to provide any information held by the ministry. That act says those records “may be disclosed if, in the opinion of the minister, the benefit of disclosure of information clearly outweighs any invasion of privacy that could result from the disclosure.”
She argued that having access to this information would provide her and her family insight into the circumstances of their mother’s childhood, which have deeply affected the entire family. The woman asked whose privacy the ministry thought it was protecting by refusing disclosure, especially given that so many of the people involved in her mother’s life and care are now dead.
“My question is benefits who? My deceased [mother]? My grandparents? The social worker my [mother] said made advances on [her]? Or does it benefit the ministry itself because of the manner [my mother] may have been placed?” she asked. “I feel [the ministry holds] all the power and there is no checks and balances regarding this denial for access to information.”
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The commissioner said the ministry’s handling of that case shows it has an “arbitrary secretive approach to providing information,” adding that, “Social Services makes its decisions under a veil of secrecy with no ability for an individual to question its practices.” He said that needs to change and pointed out that some change was on the way. He said recent revisions to the Child and Family Services Act will provide more opportunity for the minister to share information more freely. Those changes are still awaiting proclamation.
But, he pointed out, the minister already has the discretion to share some information under the current rules.
Minister meets with Angela
Makowsky said that while the information is generally kept confidential, the ministry does share the findings of its investigations with the province’s advocate for children & youth and the chief coroner. In his report about Stellayna’s death, written after CBC’s investigation highlighting the long delay in Stellayna being reported missing, the coroner concluded, “I am of the opinion that a public inquest is not necessary.”
CBC asked the office of the children’s advocate for its view of Stellayna’s death and the ministry’s investigation. The advocate said they are bound by confidentiality rules and can only release information in “rare circumstances and at the advocate’s discretion.”
Sask. woman says province failed her daughter
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Makowsky also said that sometimes his ministry provides information to families. On Thursday following question period, Makowsky and his officials met with Angela, Bonnie Ford and others to talk about Stellayna’s case.
Ford said they made it clear that “there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered still.” “This is not going to be swept under the rug. Absolutely not,” she said. She said no new information was provided in that meeting, but that the government has scheduled a follow-up for Tuesday. Ford said government officials indicated they will share some findings of their investigation at that meeting.
Angela said transparency is just the beginning of what she wants to see from the ministry. “I’m looking for change and action. That’s what I want,” she said.
Ford is hopeful but not optimistic. “How many more are going to die in their care before they realize there’s something wrong here?” she said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Geoff Leo, Senior Investigative Journalist
Geoff Leo is a Michener Award nominated investigative journalist and a Canadian Screen Award winning documentary producer and director. He has been covering Saskatchewan stories since 2001. Email Geoff at geoff.leo@cbc.ca