Alberta government has quashed the publication ban of naming children who die in foster care UPDATED

“Four years after her baby suffocated to death in a collapsed bassinet while in foster care, Toni Omeasoo is free to publicly speak her daughter’s name for the first time.

Phoenix Majestic Omeasoo.

She can show you a photograph of her daughter’s sweet baby mohawk, her chubby cheeks, her pretty brown eyes.

She can do this because the Alberta government has quashed the publication ban that made it illegal to name or share photographs of children who have died inside the province’s foster care system.

“I want people to know what happened to her, I want her to be remembered,” Omeasoo said through tears Wednesday. “She is not forgotten, and there are people who care about what happened to my family.

“Maybe it will change something for another mother.”

At a meeting Wednesday afternoon, the Progressive Conservative cabinet proclaimed a new law that allows families and caregivers to speak publicly about the death of a child whenever they choose to do so.

Media outlets are now free to publish the names, photographs and stories of the children’s’ lives, unless a judge grants a publication ban in an individual case.

The new law comes into effect eight months after a joint Edmonton Journal-Calgary Herald investigation revealed the province dramatically under-reported the number of children who have died in care and failed to monitor implementation of recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

The series examined the province’s publication ban, which was passed in 2004 with little legislative debate. The government said it protected the privacy of families grieving after the loss of a child; critics said it protected the child welfare system from meaningful scrutiny of its worst failures.

“We’ve taken a very significant step to increase openness and transparency in the child welfare system,” Human Services Minister Manmeet Bhullar said. “We have freed the system and those involved in the system from the burden of secrecy.”

He said each child matters and the stories of their short lives and tragic deaths “must be told.”

“We all need to learn from their stories, we need to make our system better and make our society better as a result of their stories,” Bhullar said.

“It is the right thing to do.”

It remains illegal in Alberta to publish identifying information about a living child who is receiving child welfare services from the province.

Families of children who have died in care still have the right to request a publication ban, but it is no longer automatic and they must go to court to ask a judge to put the publication ban in place.

NDP critic Rachel Notley said she is still concerned the ministry will use a section of the new law to place publication bans on the name of every child, recreating the effect of the old law. She also said the government has “disrespected” the committee process by proclaiming the law before regulations are in place.

“Overall, though, I do believe that if the government were to come to the table sincerely to resolve those two problems, the overall impact of lifting the publication ban will increase accountability and transparency,” Notley said.

“That’s a very good thing.””

Province lifts ban on naming children who die in foster care[Edmonton Journal 7/24/14 by Karen Kleiss]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:”Most children who die in care will remain nameless and faceless because the Human Services ministry will quietly pursue publication bans under a complex new law, critics alleged Friday.

NDP leadership candidate Rachel Notley said the ministry’s new internal policy undermines the government’s promise to provide more transparency and accountability in the child welfare system.

“They promised they would be transparent about the deaths of children in care, but yesterday they took a major step backward,” Notley said in a statement. “Transparency has been lost.”

Earlier this year, Human Services Minister Manmeet Bhullar overturned Alberta’s draconian publication ban that prevented media from publishing the names and photos of children who died in provincial care, even if their families wanted their identities made public.

Under the new law, families and news outlets may identify children who have died in care using both a name and photograph, unless a judge grants a publication ban.

Before granting the ban, a judge must consider the deceased child’s wishes (if known) and the best interests of his or her living siblings, as well as the public interest.

Anyone — including the child’s biological family or the ministry — can apply for an ex-parte ban, which means there is no requirement to notify the media or others who might fight against a ban.

On Thursday, at a meeting of the standing committee on families and communities, assistant deputy minister Mark Hattori explained the ministry’s internal policy will require government to notify families, First Nations and the media — even though it’s not required by law.

Typically, he said that if a child is still in the care of his or her parents at the time of death, the province will leave it up to the parents to determine if there should be a publication ban.

However, if the child is in the care of the province — either in foster care, kinship care or in a group home — the province is more likely to apply for a publication ban, particularly when the deceased child has siblings, which is the case in roughly 62 per cent of deaths.

He said these bans would be “for the right reasons.”

“The bans, or the provision for the (ministry) to apply for a ban, would be the exception rather than the rule,” Hattori told the standing committee.

“The decision regarding any application is a matter for the court to make a decision on, and not for the director to independently put in place,” Hattori said.

“Our preliminary assessment of past cases using these considerations suggests that applications by the director will be rare.””

Alberta kids who die in foster care will still be nameless, faceless: critics[Edmonton Journal 9/12/14 by Karen Kleiss]

Update 2:”A judge at a fatality inquiry wants the Alberta government to ensure foster parents properly use and correctly assemble bassinets.

The inquiry examined the death of six-month-old Phoenix Majestic Omeasoo, who suffocated in a collapsed bassinet in Edmonton in 2010.

Provincial court Judge John Henderson ruled the death was accidental and due to a combination of factors.

He says in his report that the girl’s foster parents improperly placed the bassinet on its metal stand and did not attach it with clips.

He also points out the bassinet was placed near a crib and another foster child probably reached over and pulled the bassinet down.

The judge is further recommending the province research and update its policies for the use of bassinets by foster parents.”

Judge wants better use of bassinets by foster parents following baby death[Lethbridge Herald 11/5/14 by the Canadian Press]