Child welfare system needs more transparency

Alison Redford

Any time a child dies, it is, by its very nature, a great tragedy. Children should have a future, not a grave site.

Following a joint Calgary Herald-Edmonton Journal investigation into children who died while in provincial government care, Alison Redford’s Progressive Conservative government has vowed to hold an all-party roundtable to address the serious flaws in the province’s child welfare system uncovered in this unprecedented series.

To recap, the Herald-Journal investigation, which required a four-year legal battle to have documents released, learned that 145 children died in foster care since 1999. That’s triple the number of deaths the government publicly released and acknowledged.

While much still remains hidden from view, ultimately, what is very evident is that the draconian privacy laws that govern this quagmire-like system are serving no one — least of all the children and their grieving family members.

To have children who are removed from their families die in an unsafe home under government custody is not just ironic, but completely unacceptable.  (more...)

Child welfare system needs more transparency