Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said her department is following up on recommendations of a review into the death of a youth in care who cried out for help.
During question period Thursday, Progressive Conservative families critic Carrie Hiebert asked about the status of the review promised by the minister after the slaying of 17-year-old Myah-Lee Gratton. She was one of five people killed on Feb. 11 in Carman. Ryan Manoakeesick, 29, whose home she lived in, was charged with five counts of first-degree murder. He had a history of substance abuse and mental-health struggles.
The teen had reached out to Child and Family Services and pleaded to be moved from her placement because she worried about her safety, the Free Press has reported.
(Facebook) 17-year-old Myah-Lee Gratton was one of five people killed on Feb. 11 in Carman, MB.
Fontaine said Thursday her department ordered a Section 4 review right away and that it is acting on its findings.
Section 4 of the Child and Family Services Act gives the CFS director authority to review a case. It allows the director to enter and inspect the premises where a child is placed and to “inspect and obtain a copy of any record, paper or thing, or a sample of any material, food, medication, or thing that, in the opinion of the director, relates to an agency, a child, a child-care facility, or to any matter being investigated by the director.”
Section 4 review findings are generally not made public because they are based on confidential case reviews of the families involved.
Fontaine wouldn’t share the findings or the recommendations. Outside the legislative chamber, she said “all the stakeholders involved need to understand what intimate partner violence is and to have better communication in respect of ensuring everybody is aware of circumstances families are going through.”
When asked how child welfare workers would respond the next time a youth in care asked to be moved from placement where they felt endangered, the minister offered a carefully worded response.
“Upon the completion of the Section 4 review, there were clear recommendations particularly in respect of this particular case, and we have actioned those recommendations.”
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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