B.C. social workers speak out in case of teen found dead in Calgary
Rodica Radita and her husband Emil are accused of killing their 15-year-old son Alex after failing to get him treatment for diabetes.
Now the union that represents B.C. social workers is expressing concerns something similar could happen because files are often dealt with, closed and then not shared.
“Certainly it could happen again,” said Doug Kinna with the BC Government Employees’ Union. “Because a closed file, and somebody moves from one province to another, or even within a province, then stays very very low so the child’s not seen in the community, we really have no way of tracking that.”
When the family lived in Surrey, Alex was removed from his home by the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Court documents reveal that despite a social worker’s concerns, a judge ruled it safe to return Alex to his parents. The family then moved from B.C. to Alberta.
“We have to make sure we’re connecting, not just within our province, between ministries, but that we’re connecting between governments as well across the country, there’s just no question about it,” said Premier Christy Clark. “In a world where people are so mobile, because those kinds of situations are absolutely tragic. They are oftentimes preventable, and we have to know we did everything we could.”
The BCGEU said sharing a closed file can be complicated, due to privacy issues.
“In hindsight it’s a mistake,” said Kinna. “But no one can predict what anyone will do six, eight, nine, ten years later.”
In an emailed statement, BC’s Ministry of Children and Family Development said:
“Because there’s a police investigation, we are unable to comment on specific details.” Also, “the Ministry cooperates fully with any police or coroner’s office investigation.” And “once a child moves to another jurisdiction, that jurisdiction then assumes responsibility.”
Emil and Rodica Radita remain in custody. The two are facing charges of first-degree murder.
No comments:
Post a Comment