Children and family service officials raised concerns for years on problems with the way in which child welfare agencies conducted abuse investigations, writing in reports that witnesses were not interviewed and criminal investigations were at risk, according to documents obtained by CBC News.
These quarterly reception household reports, obtained by CBC through the laws of freedom of information, reflect every time a CFS agency conducts an abuse investigation that involves a reception home. A summary of the investigation is granted to the Provincial Research Unit of Family Services and Family Services of Manitoba for review.
The 67 -page document shows the number of accusations of abuse investigated by the agencies each quarter, and includes brief notes on the findings of the province.
The results reveal that government officials highlighted the way in which CFS agencies were investigating accusations of child abuse within reception homes on multiple times for many years.
The reports, which are covered by July 2021 until the end of 2024, reveal that there were 135 child abuse investigations reviewed by the CFS Research Unit of the province.
When reviewing seven children’s abuse of Winnipeg, Rural and Northern CFS in 2023, the reports say:
- The agency concluded the investigation before interviewing the alleged offender.
- There was no documentation to support that the concerns were followed or that each child was seen.
- The agency’s interview practices affected the “integrity of the investigations.”
The documents do not say what kind of abuse were being investigated or offered details of what happened.
“It is annoying and disappointing, but not really surprising only because of the large number of children under care in Manitoba,” said Jamie Pfau, president of the Foster Parent Association of Manitoba, about the findings of the province.
“When we have a system in chaos, which is not funded and without support, it is not surprising that things like this happen.”
According to the department, there are more than 8,900 children in care. Last annual report.
The Winnipeg, North and Rural Agency is mandatory by the General Authority of Children and Family Services. It is the CEO, Jay Rodgers, he said in an email statement that this is often reduced to a training problem with the staff of his agencies. They have developed a two -day abuse investigation class that can be delivered by the agencies, he said.
Children in care at the Care Center
The supervision of careful children has been pushed again after a child care was taken to the hospital in critical state last week with injuries that alter life.
The Winnipeg police accused the 25 -year -old adopted mother, aggravated assault, assault and not providing the needs of life. A 26 -year -old man, identified by the police as the adoptive father, faces a position of not providing the needs of life.
Sherry Gott, defender of Manitoba for children and youth, says that death reminded Phoenix Sinclair. He could not go into details due to the conditions of the Law of Family Services and Children of Manitoba.
Sinclair died in 2005 at the age of five. He spent much of his life living carefully, and was abused horribly when he returned to his mother.
So far little is known about what happened and what interaction the couple had with the SFC before the arrests.
On Wednesday, Gott said in an email statement that it was “disappointing” that some agencies do not follow the due process to the accusations of abuse.
Alex McDougall, great Chief of Anishininew Okimawin, who represents the four Anishininew nations in the Lake Lake region, confirmed that the child was in the care of the family services of Island Lake’s first nations.
Multiple problems encountered with ANCR investigations
In a 2024 report, the unit reviewed three child abuse investigations by the Emergency Coordinated Response Nets All Nations, the agency responsible for all children’s and relatives of intake and emergency in Winnipeg and its surroundings.
He found that criminal investigation into abuse was possibly affected because best investigation practices were not followed.
In another review, he found that ANCR researchers reached conclusions before all interviews are completed, and they were concerned that an adequate risk assessment had not been completed.
Other findings in the 67 -page document include:
- The investigations were delayed.
- Main questions were asked during interviews.
- A documented security evaluation is not performed.
- No multiple instances were followed in which the “research process” was not followed.
- Thirteen cases in which the unit found problems with the questions of the interview or the key interviews were not carried out.
PFAU says that an adoptive mother has long said that the vast majority of adoptive parents and social workers are doing everything possible in a system in chaos.
She says that the recent arrest of adoptive parents only shows the limited priority granted to children under care.
Lorna Hanson, deputy director of the Child Protection Branch of the province, says that the unit writes its findings based on a report given by the CFS agency.
She says that the brief findings are designed to identify issues, train officers and make sure there is an improvement in the system.
Before August, a manual system was used to report abuse research, which Hanson said he could have led to inform. It has been replaced by an electronic system.
The branch has provided the agencies trained to interview children, how to work with the application of the law and forensic identification of child abuse, he says.
“It is a continuous improvement for our system,” he said.
