Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Manitoba's Family Services Minister Vows End To Hotels For Children In Care After Teen Assaulted

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 02 Apr, 2015 01:13 PM
  • Manitoba's Family Services Minister Vows End To Hotels For Children In Care After Teen Assaulted

WINNIPEG — Manitoba's family services minister has tearfully promised to end the practice of putting children in government care in hotels after the serious assault of a young girl. 

The teen — who was found early Wednesday morning in downtown Winnipeg — was in the care of Child and Family Services. 

Police are saying little about the attack, except to say the victim, who was found around 5 a.m., is in critical condition.

Family Services Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross told reporters she was shaken.

"I'm saddened and outraged by this cowardly attack on a vulnerable child," she said, fighting back tears. "It is infuriating that there are people out there that would prey upon an innocent child.

Irvin-Ross added she's deeply troubled that this has happened to a ward of Child and Family Services.

"We have a responsibility to protect children in our care and provide them with places of safety."

Irvin-Ross said that by June 1, no child in care will be housed in a hotel.

She couldn't explain how the teen left the hotel or how many people might have been supervising her at the time.

The government will investigate the circumstances, but she said social workers are not able to restrain a teen who is determined to leave.

Irvin-Ross had promised in November to stop housing foster kids in hotels when 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was killed after running away from one.

"What today's tragedy does is remind us that we need to move a lot faster," she said Wednesday. "We need to set some concrete timelines."

The province is creating new emergency foster home spots and reducing its reliance on outside contract workers over two years. Hotels are a last resort, Irvin-Ross said, but the number of children in care has risen recently and there aren't enough alternatives. It takes time to build up a healthy roster of foster and group home spaces, she added.

Manitoba has around 10,000 children in care. The vast majority are aboriginal.

On any given day, dozens of those children are put up in hotel rooms because there isn't room in a foster home. There are now nine children being housed in hotels.

Manitoba was criticized by its own children’s advocate as far back as 2000 for putting children in hotels. The children’s watchdog has released several reports since then that have raised concerns about the practice.

Progressive Conservative critic Ian Wishart said the NDP government has had years to address this crisis. Hotels are the worst place to put a vulnerable child, he said.

"There is very little supervision," Wishart said.

"They are taking them from a medium-risk environment, in many cases, and putting them in the absolute highest-risk environment you can imagine."

MORE National ARTICLES

Robert Earnshaw Scores Late As Vancouver Whitecaps Edge Portland Timbers 2-1

Robert Earnshaw Scores Late As Vancouver Whitecaps Edge Portland Timbers 2-1
The veteran forward scored minutes after making his Whitecaps debut as a substitute in the 87th minute Saturday to lift Vancouver to a 2-1 Cascadia Cup 

Robert Earnshaw Scores Late As Vancouver Whitecaps Edge Portland Timbers 2-1

No Winning Ticket For Saturday Night's $30 Million Lotto 649 Jackpot

No Winning Ticket For Saturday Night's $30 Million Lotto 649 Jackpot
TORONTO — No one has the winning ticket for the $30-million jackpot in Saturday night's Lotto 6-49 draw.

No Winning Ticket For Saturday Night's $30 Million Lotto 649 Jackpot

More Rebel Fighters Needed To Aid Air Campaign, Says Syrian Canadian Activist

More Rebel Fighters Needed To Aid Air Campaign, Says Syrian Canadian Activist
OTTAWA — A leading Canadian activist for Syria says it is time to step up the training of a rebel force capable of leading a ground war against both Islamic militants and the Assad government in Damascus.

More Rebel Fighters Needed To Aid Air Campaign, Says Syrian Canadian Activist

From Cradle To Grave: New Brunswick Sees More Deaths Than Births For First Time

From Cradle To Grave: New Brunswick Sees More Deaths Than Births For First Time
FREDERICTON — Coles Island School in New Brunswick has taught children for 58 years but this may be its last. Over time, enrolment has dwindled to a point where the school now teaches 30 students from kindergarten to Grade 5. 

From Cradle To Grave: New Brunswick Sees More Deaths Than Births For First Time

Tories To Tackle Thorny Issue Of Lump Sum Payments To Wounded Veterans: Sources

Tories To Tackle Thorny Issue Of Lump Sum Payments To Wounded Veterans: Sources
OTTAWA — The system of awards for the pain and suffering of the country's most severely wounded soldiers is about to be overhauled as the Harper government attempts to defuse a volatile issue within the angry veterans community.

Tories To Tackle Thorny Issue Of Lump Sum Payments To Wounded Veterans: Sources

Avoiding Syrian Air Defences A Concern As Commons Set To Approve War Expansion

Avoiding Syrian Air Defences A Concern As Commons Set To Approve War Expansion
OTTAWA — How to avoid missile batteries and navigate defensive radar systems in Syria are among the issues preoccupying military planners as Parliament debates the merits of expanding and extending Canada's Middle East mission.

Avoiding Syrian Air Defences A Concern As Commons Set To Approve War Expansion