Victim, perpetrator needed better services: Child's Advocate report
- Jeanelle Mandes | May 15, 2014
"Sam was a shy and quiet child, who liked to play with his remote control airplane and go to the park," according to a report released earlier this week.
Bob Pringle, Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth, presented Two Tragedies: Holding Systems Accountable in the Legislative Assembly. It is a report in the response to a deadly incident between two boys on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation that left one of them dead.
The report shows an in-depth investigation as to how the incident could have been prevented if policies and procedures were followed.
According to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, it strictly prohibits revealing any names of the youth under the age of 16. The report referred the two boys as Sam and Derek.
Back in August 22, 2013, Sam was found dead on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation. Police believe Derek caused Sam's death. An autopsy indicated he died from a blunt force trauma to the head. Sam was under the care of the Ministry of Social Services (MSS).
Under the Saskatchewan Child and Family Services Act, Derek was not charged for the death of Sam because "children under 12 who are suspected of such a crime may be considered to be in need of protection. Derek was determined to be in need of protection and was taken into care by the Agency," according to the report.
It also states, "services to children must be provided equitably across the province, with the highest standard of health and education being available to them to help reach their full potential. Children should be free from all forms of physical, emotional and sexual harm," by the MSS.
Government and First Nations officials responded to the report in a press conference, saying changes need to be put in place.
"Our commitment for tomorrow is to never stop trying. We made some changes in our policies and our practices. For example; we implemented a supervision tool for structured decision making to ensure that tool is used as correctly and at appropriate time frames," said June Draude, Social Services Minister.
That won't be the only tool implemented, according to Draude: the MSS will be working with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) to hold joint annual reviews at the First Nations agencies to address the recommendations that were made in the report.
MSS, Yorkton Tribal Council Child and Family Services and Federation of Saskatchewan Indians (FSI) plan to work together to meet the report's recommendations to prevent any more tragedies from occurring in the future.
"The respectful and open communication between the Ministry and our First Nations will ensure that we will do better. Pointing of the fingers is not where we need to go. We need to take responsibility and we need to learn. We will work together not against each other," said Kimberly Jonathon, Vice-Chief for FSIN.
Pringle stated in the report the situation could have been prevented if Derek had the proper care. Derek was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) but his needs were not met by the YTC Agency.
"No child deserves to have their life ended as Sam's did. At the same time, no child deserves to have his needs ignored as Derek's were," Pringle concluded in his report.