Child Welfare in Alberta

Right now in Edmonton there is a forum taking place to talk about and problem solve around child welfare deaths in our province. (Follow Twitter hash tag #Abchild14)

I cannot imagine the pain that families feel that have a) led to their child being taken from their home b) that the system has let them down and are then grieving the loss of a child. I do not in any way want to discount or diminish those feelings, situations or the pain felt by the parents and the workers that deal with those families. Today I do want to change the focus of this a little bit and talk about another side of child welfare that does not get any consideration. So for the sake of this post I am going to hi jack the online conversation around child welfare and bring up an issue that many families deal with but that our child welfare system refuses to focus on or do anything about.

Here is the question: What if an endangered child is endangered because they have put themselves in harms way?

There are thousands of families (I have no statistics to back this up) in our province that  that are good families. The parent (s) are loving, they spend time with their kids and have a safe environment for their kids to thrive. These same families have teenagers that have decided not only to rebel, but rebel to the point that they have chosen to leave home and live high risk lifestyles.

I am aware of a situation recently where a family's  (who's peers would consider them "healthy, solid and the most loving family I have ever met" ) 14 year old child got involved in an older crowd and got addicted to drugs. The family nearly ruined themselves financially for private treatment, moved more than once to give their child a fresh start, engaged all the community resources available to them and their child chose to leave their home and live with an individual known to police for drug activity. Out of desperation (and based on a strong suggestion from a community resource) this family went to Child & Family Services as a last resort for help. After a month of this child being in this high risk situation with multiple phone messages being unanswered, they were finally told that this child and situation does not fit within the mandate of child services because the parents were not "neglecting or abusing" their child. And that they did not know where the parents would have got the impression that they could do anything anyway.  The parents took their case to their local MLA who advocated on their behalf to get something done. Ultimately the minimal involvement that reluctantly they offered did not help this child or family in resolving their situation.

Many years ago a Child Welfare system was created. That system was abused by adults in authority over children at risk. It was identified that children needed  to have a voice and advocate for themselves. The pendulum has swung too far. Children can now self advocate themselves out of help, support or accountability for their actions. There is absolutely no immediate, lifesaving recourse for parents who's kids fall off the rails.

What are we really teaching our kids when they can leave home at 14  and do whatever they want? They can quit school and live a high risk lifestyle and the adults in the community have no authority or recourse to assist these kids in working through their issues unless they break the law. Then there are consequences.  These are now the kids that are falling through the cracks. We need to change the legislation in this province to service and protect ALL CHILDREN not just those who's parents "neglect and abuse".