How Could You? Hall of Shame- Canada- Isabella Wiens 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 British Colombia, Canada, “in March 2013, Baby Isabella Wiens was found unresponsive under a blanket in her crib.

The baby girl had been taken from her mother in 2011 after the ministry determined she was unfit to care for her child. At the time, Isabella was only two months old.

Sara-Jane Wiens says she wants answers as to why her child who was taken away from her two months after birth then later died in foster care.

“You took my child away, and I would really like some closure. She was a very special girl and I miss her a lot…it shouldn’t have happened. She shouldn’t have died.”

Added Wiens: ”No one should ever have to lose a child and be told that you can’t parent. Just because you have some kind of a disability does not mean you cannot be parents, because you can.”

Sara-Jane’s lawyer Chris Heslinga, told our reporter Zahra Premji the baby died in the care of foster parents in Burnaby two years ago. The coroner could not determine the cause of death.

“Many injuries on this child. Our client at visitation also noticed bruises that she brought to the attention of staff and ministry officials and those concerns went unheard. Most disturbing part of this case is lack of adequate supervision, the apparent abuse and neglect that occurred in the foster home.”

Wiens wants answers from the staff of the Ministry of Child and Family Development, he same people who took her child to keep her safe, but she says ended up having her die in their custody.

Baby Isabella’s mother is suing the BC government.

Children and Family Development minister Stephanie Cadieux says her death is tragic, but she can’t comment on the details of Isabella Wiens.

Cadieux says the ministry does take steps to ensure kids in care are safe.”

Mother wants answers from BC Ministry after baby dies in foster care[CKNW 3/23/15 by Zahra Premji]

“The child was found dead in March 2013, and while a coroner’s report didn’t determine a cause of death, it did find that Isabella had fractures in her left arm and bruises on her arms, legs and face.

Now, her mother, Sara Jane Wiens, is demanding answers and has filed a lawsuit.

Wiens says the ministry took her daughter away when she was two months old, as they ruled she was unfit. (She has a learning disability). 

“They’re telling me I can’t parent and that I’m dangerous and that I will potentially harm my child and … then they take her from me, put her in a home, and she ends up dead,” she said.

But when Wiens raised concerns about her daughter’s well-being during supervised visits, she says she was ignored.

“I saw bruises and constant diaper rash, and I brought these things up, but they disregarded them,” Wiens said.

On March 16, 2013, police and family services showed up at her door early in the morning and told her Isabella had died while in care.

“I ran outside my back door and I screamed bloody murder and I broke down,” Wienssaid. “When she died a part of me died.”

Wiens said she wants the ministry to acknowledge their system did not work for Isabella, and she wants an apology.

“I’ve not been able to get over this …. I’ve been stuck in limbo for two years,” she said.

“There are flaws in the system, and they seriously need to be fixed. This is so wrong. No one should have to go through this.”

Her lawyer Jack Hittrich said it was a struggle for Wiens to get hold of the coroner’s report. He also added Wiens wants to know if Isabella’s death and the foster parents with whom she was placed were investigated by the ministry.

“The most egregious part here is … the social workers were essentially ignoring this child in care,” he said.

“They weren’t supervising the care, so what we have is a child protection system where children are placed with great risk with foster parents who are obviously not properly qualified to look after children and there is no monitoring, no proper accountability.

“It’s very reprehensible that the very ministry charged with protecting children essentially sentenced this child to death. Ultimately the buck stops with the ministry.”

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.’s representative for children and youth, said she will consider launching her own investigation after the case makes its way through the court.

“We do have a child welfare system for a reason. We do need foster care and we need safety, but we need to make sure the standards are high and that the families are engaged and involved,” she said.

Stephanie Cadieux, the minister of Children and Family Development, said she couldn’t get into specifics on the case.

“Short of saying any time a child dies it’s a tragedy, and I certainly feel for the mother, for her loss, it’s incredibly tragic … I can’t speak any more about anything that may or may not be related to the ministry in this circumstance.””

Mother sues B.C. Ministry of Children after baby dies in foster care[CBC 3/24/15 by Chantelle Bellrichard]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:“B.C.’s director of child welfare has launched an investigation into the death of 21-month Isabella Wiens more than two years after she was found dead in her crib at a Burnaby foster home.

Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux confirmed the investigation in a letter to NDP children’s critic Doug Donaldson.

In the April 28 letter, Cadieux states that the director recently ordered a case review “based on new information that has come forward.”

She said a previous director of child welfare had looked at the circumstances of the case immediately following Isabella’s death on March 16, 2013, but determined, based on the information available at the time, that “the circumstances did not meet the criteria for a case review.”

Director’s case reviews usually focus on the actions of ministry staff and examine whether policy and standards were followed.

The deaths of children in government care are also reported to Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, who has the authority to collect evidence and launch independent reviews.

Donaldson, who has repeatedly asked Cadieux about the case in the legislature, said the timing of the director’s case review raises troubling new questions. He noted that Isabella’s mother, Sara-Jane Wiens, recently launched a lawsuit against the province, the director and the foster parents. The suit alleges negligence and breach of duty, and claims that Isabella’s death was never properly investigated.

“Is there a cover-up going on?” Donaldson said. “Is this a rear-guard defensive action by the ministry to say, ‘Oh wait. We have new information. We will do a case review?’

“I mean, if the minister can’t clear the air, then those are the kinds of conclusions that are left out there.”

Cadieux was travelling Friday and unavailable for comment. But her deputy, Mark Sieben, said in an interview that the director of child welfare, Cory Heavener, as a statutory officer, decided to launch the review independently.

“This is … her decision,” he said. “It’s not something that either myself or Minister Cadieux participate in. She advises us accordingly of what her decision is.”

He said Heavener was not the director at the time of Isabella’s death and has therefore approached the case and recent media coverage with a “new set of eyes.” She also has access to information, including the coroner’s report, that was unavailable within the first 30 days after Isabella’s death, he said.

The B.C. Coroners Service concluded its investigation on March 5, 2004,[sic, 2014?] and classified the cause of Isabella’s death as undetermined. The coroner’s report states that, on the day of her death, Isabella was put down for a nap at 3 p.m. with a comforter draped over the crib to block out the light. Three hours later, she was found lying on her stomach with the comforter completely covering her head and body. She had stopped breathing and attempts to revive her failed, the report said.

An autopsy found healing injuries, including bruises on Isabella’s chin, forehead, face, arms and legs, as well as healing fractures in her left arm. “It was estimated that the fractures of the left arm occurred weeks to months prior to Isabella’s death,” the report said. “Where and how the fractures occurred could not be explained.”

The report noted that Isabella was “significantly delayed” in her gross motor skills, walked using a stool for support and frequently stumbled and fell.

The coroner made no recommendations.

In her letter to Donaldson, Cadieux said the ministry conducted an investigation of the foster home from March 2013 to July 2014.

The probe took more than a year to complete because the ministry had to await the results of other investigations, she said.

The home is now closed, but Cadieux has said in the legislature that the closing of a foster home does not always indicate that an investigation found something amiss.

“Sometimes … foster parents themselves choose not to continue to foster for any number of reasons of their own,” she said.”

B.C. to investigate toddler’s 2013 death in foster care [Times Colonist 5/9/15 by Lindsey Kines]

“A mother whose toddler was found dead in a British Columbia foster home two years ago says she hopes a new ministry review can bring her some peace — but it should have been done sooner.

Sara-Jane Wiens also said a revised coroner’s report into her daughter’s death appears to have been timed to defend the Ministry of Children and Family Development against accusations of wrongdoing.

“I think they’re doing a very poor job trying to cover their butts,” said Wiens. “It’s frustrating. It’s been this long, they should have some kind of answer. They just need to own up to what they did.”

Twenty-one-month-old Isabella Wiens was found lying face down underneath a blanket in her crib in March 2013. A coroner could not determine her cause of death, but there were several bruises on her body and healing fractures on her arm.

Wiens filed a lawsuit two months ago against the province and the director of child welfare, alleging they failed to properly supervise her daughter or adequately consider returning her home.

The B.C. Coroners Service released a revised coroner’s report Tuesday that maintains that Isabella’s injuries could have been either accidental or caused by trauma.

But it also includes new details, including that a police investigation concluded no criminal act led to her death.

The new report includes a more detailed description of the developmentally delayed child’s medical history, stating that an infant development worker was visiting her monthly in the Burnaby foster home. Isabella could not walk or stand without help, frequently fell down, and her language skills were comparable to a one-year-old, the report says.

The revised report also states that no one — her foster family, social workers, medical professionals or mother — knew her arm was injured before her death.

“The radiologist that examined the X-rays concluded that fractures of this type are not uncommon in children and not necessarily suggestive of abuse,” the report says.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said that she issued the revised report independent of the ministry. No new investigation was undertaken, but details left out of the original report for privacy reasons were included, she said in a statement.

“This case was properly and meticulously investigated from the beginning,” she said. “The purpose of this revised report is solely to answer some of the public questions which have recently arisen.”

Wiens’ lawyer Jack Hittrich said the report clearly minimizes the ministry’s responsibility for Isabella’s death.

He questioned why the radiologist’s statement that the fractures “were not uncommon in children” was not included in the first report and where the evidence was to support it.

He also asked why the infant development worker did not realize Isabella’s arm was fractured, and why the report appears to place blame on her mother for not noticing the injury.

Hittrich pointed out that the first report, published in 2014, says a ministry review is already underway.

However, Minister Stephanie Cadieux wrote last month in a letter to member of the legislature Doug Donaldson that the case did not initially qualify for a review. She wrote the director of child welfare had “recently” decided to launch a review based on new information.

In an emailed statement, Cadieux didn’t explain the discrepancy, but said the minister does not participate in the director’s decision to conduct a review.”

Toddler’s death in B.C. foster care should have been reviewed two years ago: mom[Bay Today 5/12/15 by The Canadian Press]