'It's frustrating': Expert says decades of reports haven't improved N.L. child protection
Retired MUN professor says it's time for the public to demand change
Ken Barter — one of Newfoundland and Labrador's leading experts on child protection for decades — says the child and youth advocate should have rejected the premier's request for a review related to a high-profile sexual exploitation case.
The retired Memorial University social work professor said the advocate's review won't turn up anything that hasn't already been flagged by numerous reports in the past.
Barter points to the Hughes Inquiry into the abuse at Mount Cashel, to the report on the murder of baby Zachary Turner in 2003, to more recent child and youth advocate reports into child deaths — and says the problems remain the same.
"These things repeatedly come up report after report after report," Barter said.
"In a couple of the reports, you could see the frustration on the part of the advocate saying, 'Here we go again.' We make those recommendations, then we do a follow-up a year later and we're told all the recommendations have been implemented, and yet we come to find out that the same things are happening."
Premier Andrew Furey directed the advocate to review policies and procedures in the child welfare department following CBC Investigates reporting on the Tony Humby and Bruce Escott sexual exploitation case in St. John's, which revealed many of the alleged victims were wards of the state.
Humby has pleaded not guilty and is headed to trial on dozens of charges in March, while Escott pleaded guilty to seven sexual offences last week. At least three of Escott's six victims were under the care or supervision of the province.
Barter said the issues flagged in the past revolve around the lack of communication, collaboration and resources within the system.
He expects the same issues will be raised again.
Prior reports show frustration with lack of change
Barter highlighted a 2016 report by former child and youth advocate Carol Chafe, titled A Stolen Life.
Chafe was tasked to investigate the circumstances around the death of a four-month-old baby in Labrador, and came away with a scathing report on the lack of progress in the child protection system.
"Once again, the same deficiencies are identified in this investigation as those that came before," Chafe wrote.
"Once again, it is evident that even though 183 recommendations made by this office since 2006 to government departments and agencies are being addressed, it is not resulting in the necessary changes and standardization of services throughout the province."
Barter said the problem is not unique to Newfoundland and Labrador — though child protection issues are acutely worse in Labrador's Indigenous communities.
"It's time that the Newfoundland and Labrador public, as well as the Canadian public … stand up and say, 'What is happening? We expect our children to be protected, and we demand it.'"
Province says change is happening
The Child, Seniors and Social Development department disputes Barter's claim that no improvements have been made.
"This statement discounts the work people within the system are doing every day to make it better," said department spokesperson Gayle St. Croix.
According to St. Croix the number of children in care has decreased by 11 per cent, from 1,035 to 920 in the last eight years, a decrease that happened while the number of complex cases and families presenting issues increased.
She also said the number of Indigenous children and youth in care decreased by 20 per cent since 2019, from 380 to 305.
St. Croix said the department is also working to recruit and retain social workers.
"As of October 2024, we filled 280 social workers positions, and we will continue our efforts," she said.
However, St. Croix said the department acknowledges that there were still gaps that need to be addressed.
Where do we go from here?
Barter said the system needs a fundamental overhaul, right down to the foundational aspects of social work and child protection.
It starts with governments gathering feedback from the social workers, parents and children who are interacting with the system on a daily basis, and finding out what they need to improve their situations, he said.
"It's frustrating that we don't seem to want to learn year after year, after year," he said.
"Why can't we apply the knowledge that we know? Why can't we listen to the people who are on the front line? Like, they know. They know what needs to be done."
Barter said government's biggest failure has always been the lack of resources within the system. The province has hovered around 100 vacant social work positions for more than a year, and Barter said the existing workers are often wasting valuable time doing administrative tasks.
In a better system, he said, social workers would have time to dedicate to prevention as opposed to protection — proactively supporting families, rather than removing kids from their homes when the situation becomes unsafe.
Barter imagines a situation where a phone call to social services could result in peer support, rather than an agent of the government coming to your door. He would like to see community centres and family resource centres playing a bigger role, to help families feel connected and supported.
"We don't concentrate on building communities. We concentrate on building bureaucracies and that does not bring the outcomes that we want," Barter said.
All of this requires investment — something Barter says he hasn't seen enough of throughout his career in the field.
"It is frustrating, and it must be even more frustrating for the parents and the youth and the children who really require that support and that assistance."
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