Métis Inquiry: Teen was abandoned by careworker before turning to suicide - Polidicks

[quote]British Columbia’s new children’s representative says provincial action on a 2012 report might have saved Métis teen Alex Gervais, who committed suicide while in government care. In Broken Promises, a report released this week, Bernard Richard said the provincial children’s ministry made abundant mistakes in trying to find a permanent home for 18-year-old Mr. Gervais, who was living alone in a Super 8 hotel in Abbotsford, supposedly attended to by a caregiver paid for by the province. Despite the province paying more than $8,000 a month to a caregiver to look after Mr. Gervais, the caregiver was absent in the last 10 days of Mr. Gervais’ life, which ended when he leaped to his death from the window of the motel.[/quote] [quote]Among a wide-ranging series of 32 recommendations, the report suggested a push to the “permanency” of reunifying children in care with family or alternate permanent family, giving priority consideration to placing children in care with relatives or other significant adults with either established relationships with children or cultural or traditional responsibility to children. It also suggested realigning and strengthening foster-care services and supports to better achieve permanency and stability. Mr. Richard, who has recently become B.C.’s second representative for children and youth after a career in politics, the law and serving as children and youth representative in his native New Brunswick, said greater attention to the report’s conclusions “might have prevented [Mr. Gervais’] death.”[/quote] [quote]Placing Mr. Gervais with extended family might also have put him on a better path, Mr. Richard said. But he said he has “significant concerns” with the way the government followed up on the report. “They didn’t follow up,” he said. Rick FitzZaland, executive director of the community social services federation, which co-authored the 2012 report that the representative was referring to, said he agreed entirely with Mr. Richard. “All of the issues they identified in his report are issues that were identified in the residential review, and the report followed in 2012. We have been pushing to have those recommendations implemented ever since then,” Mr. FitzZaland said in an interview on Tuesday.[/quote] [url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/watchdog-says-report-findings-could-have-saved-metis-teen/article33948802/]**SOURCE**[/url] Basically what happened was that Alex Gervais was pulled out of his house as a child because his parents were abusive. He was then bounced around between foster homes and caregivers. The last person he dealt with was being paid $8000 a month by the government but somehow the background check missed the fact the guy had both a drug and firearms possession criminal record. As a result the guy dumped him at the hotel and pissed off to collect a paycheck. Alex wasn't given food, new clothing or pretty much everything so being literally abandoned by everyone around him he hurled himself through the fourth floor window of the hotel and took his life. The amount of backlash on the caregiver after this report came out last night has been pretty strong. Fucking $90000 a year to play the role of a parent. There has been no "yes" or "no" yet on weather the guy should get his ass left to rot in jail but honestly, fuck the guy.

Treat the bastard as a murder.

[QUOTE=download;51792891]Treat the bastard as a murder.[/QUOTE] Closest thing to it is Criminal Negligence Causing Death, which does have a maximum life sentence.

Reading this is just depressing.

This is probably one of the most shittiest things I've read in a long time. No child or person should ever have to live a life like this, unloved and uncared for. Lock the guy up for good, that's just horrible.

90,000 a year. What the shit?

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;51792994]90,000 a year. What the shit?[/QUOTE] Most of that was supposed to go towards the child. The rest is payment for being a caretaker.

I'm also concerned about the management behind the caretaking system: if they actualy missed the criminal record of the fucker, I would say fire whoever the operator/s was/were.

[QUOTE=ROFLBURGER;51795892]Most of that was supposed to go towards the child. The rest is payment for being a caretaker.[/QUOTE] How do you get 90,000 a year through the foster care system? That's above the median family income in the region, and by a considerable margin at that.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;51797147]How do you get 90,000 a year through the foster care system? That's above the median family income in the region, and by a considerable margin at that.[/QUOTE] Actually I did some further reading from other sources and apparently it was $8,000 a month because of desperation. [quote]According to the report, the caregiver was hesitant to take over Gervais's case, but was convinced with a contract for $8,000 a month, or roughly 11 times the rate a restricted foster parent would receive.[/quote] [url]http://bc.ctvnews.ca/absentee-caregiver-was-receiving-8k-a-month-before-teen-s-suicide-report-1.3273497[/url] I had a brain lapse and thought that $8,000 was acceptable for a caregiver if it included providing food, clothing, and shelter to the kid.

[quote] I would say fire whoever the operator/s was/were. [/quote] The contractor has since been dissolved.

[QUOTE=FinalHunter;51797988]Wow, I'd adopt and raise kids for a living for that much money lol[/QUOTE] These are not regular kids though. They're children coming from really damaged homes and families. It's not easy, and it can be hell at times.