A boy who by age 11 already felt he had been “passed around for 20 million years” is the subject of a report by B.C.’s child and youth watchdog on gaps in child services between provinces.
Romain was a sweet and funny child who pretended to be the Hulk. By age 11, however, he had suffered significant trauma and upheaval in his short “chaotic” life. Romain fatally overdosed on fentanyl at age 17, after he had spent years in the child welfare systems in Alberta and B.C.
“Instead of providing stability and appropriate care and services to address that trauma, the child-serving systems in two provinces continued to pass him around until his tragic death six years later,” reads the executive summary from Caught in the Middle. The 89-page investigative report by B.C. Representative for Children and Youth Jennifer Charlesworth was released today.
It tells the story of Romain, a pseudonym chosen by the boy’s parents, who are separated, and his family. They loved him and kept him in close contact, but struggled to meet his needs.
The child watchdog chose his story to illustrate the gaps facing children in government care or receiving services when they are moved between provinces and territories.
“In Romain’s case, those gaps were too significant to escape,” says the report.
“A young man with a magnetic smile, compassion for others and a deep desire to be with family, he died of a fentanyl overdose in May 2017 while placed in an emergency staffed residential resource in B.C.”
It’s estimated Romain, who was born in Alberta, moved more than 40 times while in care in Alberta and B.C. He lived with family members in both provinces and spent time in Belize with his father.
Starting at age 11, he was placed in group homes, treatment centres and residential treatment homes in Alberta and had numerous secure care placements. He also spent time in youth custody, hospitals and emergency bed homes in B.C.
Romain said he was physically abused as a young boy in Belize and sexually assaulted while at a residential treatment facility in Alberta, the report says.
He moved at age 13 to B.C., where he was placed with his eldest sister, but Alberta didn’t notify B.C.’s children’s ministry about the move or formally request help until two months after his arrival.
Charlesworth calls that the first of a string of miscommunications and “dropped handoffs” between the two provinces. Despite Alberta’s informal agreement to fund a highly specialized residential facility for Romain four years later, that was never confirmed as part of an interprovincial agreement.
After the placement with his sister in B.C. broke down, child welfare staff sent Romain back to Alberta against his will. Despite his trauma from the assault and an explicit promise from a case worker, he was returned to the same cluster of residences in which he had been victimized.
“And shortly before his death, he was the suspected victim of a similar assault by a co-resident in his B.C. emergency bed home, despite warnings from staff at the home that Romain was at risk there due to the other resident’s history.”
Romain’s final placement was inappropriate for a teen with his history and needs, and the report says the Alberta and B.C. child-serving systems didn’t communicate or work together well enough to develop something better.
Charlesworth said B.C. did not take any action to provide him with the resources he needed for his multiple psychiatric disorders before he became suicidal and violent and then spent significant time in B.C.’s youth justice system.
There was a string of miscommunications and dropped handoffs leaving the teen in a predictably precarious situation, the report says. The child watchdog found a link between the inadequate services provided to Romain in B.C. and his death by overdose.
“This investigation pointed to a child falling through the cracks and his best interests getting lost in confusion, miscommunication and discord between provincial child welfare authorities,” the report says. “Those cracks must be filled.”
The report’s top recommendation is the need for B.C.’s children’s ministry to take a leadership role in improving a policy that is supposed to ensure children and youth moving between provinces and territories receive timely and appropriate care.
Katrine Conroy, minister of children and family development, said it is disheartening to be making changes after the fact, “in the wake of a young life that was filled with trauma and abuse.”
No matter what province is acting as a child's legal guardian, “every child in care in B.C. deserves timely support from my ministry,” Conroy said in a statement.
Interprovincial cases are complex, she said, saying there are about 100 such cases in B.C. at any given time.
Work is already underway to address several of the key issues raised in the report, Conroy said.
Interprovincial cases will now have centralized oversight and a comprehensive interprovincial case management network will be created. As well, this fall the government funded a dedicated interprovincial co-ordinator to assist, guide and provide oversight to regional offices whenever children in care are transferred to B.C., Conroy said.
“My expectation is that the interprovincial co-ordinator will be informed and consulted on every interprovincial situation involving a child in care,” she said. “In addition, we are enhancing our data management system to ensure better quality data on interprovincial children and youth in care.”
The provincial director of child welfare office has reached out to their counterpart in Alberta to discuss the report, she said.
— With a file from The Canadian Press
> The full report can be found online at rcybc.ca/caughtinthemiddle.
