How Could You? Hall of Shame-Canada-Kyleigh Crier case-Child Death UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Edmonton,Canada, a foster teenaged girl “on April 21, 2014 she hanged herself from a closet bar in her Edmonton group home, sometime in the early afternoon. Her body was found 12 hours later.’
“The mournful heartbeat of traditional Cree drum songs haunted a Maskwacis community hall Friday as the mother of a dead teenage girl bent over her daughter’s body, placed her forehead on the girl’s chest, and wept.
An elder used a white feather to sweep curling wisps of sweetgrass smoke over the girl, who looked as if she was sleeping. Her grey coffin was decorated with simple cedar boughs. Guests brought roses.
KC was 15 years old, a ward of the province, a troubled young woman who cut her arms, struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and repeatedly tried to kill herself, her family said.
Like all children who die in foster care, she must remain nameless and faceless by law, but her family wants her story told.
KC’s aunt said caseworkers convinced the family the best way to help KC was to give her over to the province.
“When my sister signed the permanent guardianship order, they said KC would get the help that she needed. My sister believed them,” the aunt said.
“I was there. My sister pleaded and she cried. They promised her. They said they would help KC, but they didn’t.”
The aunt says the family wants to know why KC was left unsupervised, and for so long.
“It was no secret that KC was suicidal,” the aunt said. “She had 50 or 100 cuts on her arms.”
Aboriginal kids are more likely to be in foster care, more likely to die in care, and more likely to die by suicide.
The Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research reports that suicide rates among children in care are nearly triple those of children who are not in care.
Aboriginal children make up about nine per cent of the Alberta child population and account for 58 per cent of children in care, and the mortality rate for aboriginal children in care is 111 per 100,000, compared to 71 per 100,000 of non-aboriginal children in care.
KC’s death is not unique; the circumstances of her suicide appear almost identical to those of a 17-year-old aboriginal boy named DED-B. Like KC, he was known to be suicidal, and like KC, he hanged himself in an Edmonton group home.
A fatality inquiry was held, and a Provincial Court Judge said facilities for suicidal youth should have break-away closet bars that cannot support their weight in the event of a suicide attempt.
DED-B died in 2000, nearly 14 years ago; it is not known why the recommendation was not implemented at KC’s group home by 2014.
“I feel the system has failed my family,” the girl’s aunt said. “I think there should be a public inquiry.”
She said KC’s mother went to the group home to collect her daughter’s things, but had to fight to keep the girl’s diaries, which told the dark story of her descent into depression.
Youth worker Mark Cherrington said the diaries will be crucial to giving KC a voice, and figuring what what went wrong in the days leading to her death.
“These are Anne Frank diaries — daily, detailed writing from a young woman in crisis,” Cherrington said. “And she just hung there, for hours. Then they shut down the group home, because everyone was traumatized, but there were no other appropriate facilities for the kids to go to.”
Community leaders said governments need to provide resources to help stop the suicide crisis among aboriginal teens.
“What’s going through my mind today is the turmoil and the agony the young lady experienced in trying to get her situation resolved through the child welfare jungle, and to be heard,” said Marilyn Buffalo, past-president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada and a citizen of the Samson Cree Nation, who attended the funeral.
“The solution is for us to completely overhaul the child welfare system. The federal government has a fiduciary responsibility, and they cannot wash their hands and walk away.
“This child was a Treaty Indian, her mother is a Treaty Indian, and with that comes responsibilities that they have to look after these people.”
“It’s quite obvious, from all the evidence, that she was crying out for help.””
Teen dies by suicide in Edmonton group home[Edmonton Journal 4/25/14 by Karen Kleiss]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: “The Edmonton group home where a 15-year-old ward of the province committed suicide is not an accredited facility, CBC News has learned.
The girl, who can only be identified as K.C., hanged herself in a closet at Crossroads House last Monday after struggling with depression.
The facility was licensed and received money from the province. While Crossroads had applied for accreditation last fall, it had not yet received it.
“What we have in our policy is that the agency must either be accredited or in the process of being accredited,” said Elden Block, Director of Children Services for Alberta.
There were 4 teens living at the home when K.C. died, monitored by 10 staff members. Family members tell CBC News that the girl may have been dead for up to 12 hours before she was found.
E4C, the non-profit agency that runs the home, says that staff check on the teens only if there is cause for concern.
“I’m not in a situation to talk about the event,” said Barb Spencer, E4C’s executive director.
“Tragic, tragic event for sure – and traumatizing for everybody who’s been involved with that.”
Spencer says the group home does not have breakaway bars in the rooms’ closets. Breakaway bars are designed to collapse if too much weight is placed on them, preventing suicide attempts.
“Crossroads House has never had breakaway bars. I don’t have an answer as to why that wasn’t identified as one of those best practices.”
The bars have now been installed at the group home, which has been temporarily closed while a review is carried out.
Children’s Services says it is checking with other group homes in the province to make sure they have breakaway bars installed.
Alberta’s Child and Youth Advocate may launch his own independent investigation.”
Group home where teen committed suicide not accredited[CBC 5/1/14]
Update 2: She was named Kyleigh Crier
WHY on God’s Green Earth should a mother have to sign a “permanent guardianship order” in order to get mental health services for her child?!?!
Can’t these services be made available WITHOUT such a step? It reminds me of the Missionaries of Charities requiring parents to sign away their rights to their children so that they can be adopted as the condition for receiving aid. It’s exploitation of the poor and desperate.
The province is paying for the services, either way. So why do parents have to sign their rights away to access them?
The Minister who was recently promoted to PREMIER of the Province, publicly announced that the “TRUE” number of children who had died was, “145”… “ALL deaths.” The truth: 744 lives lost!