Quebec foster parents 'left to their own devices' as they grapple with challenging children, group says
Case of 2 boys in 'toxic' foster home raises questions about province's youth protection system
After a Quebec judge slammed youth protection officials for "abandoning" two boys in what she called an "inadequate" and "toxic" foster home, a federation representing foster parents says they too are feeling abandoned by the system.
The two boys, now 10 and 13, spent eight years living in a Drummondville, Que., foster home where they faced humiliation, denigration and physical abuse, according to Judge Marie-Josée Ménard, who ordered the boys to be placed in the care of a new foster family last fall.
"It's clear my first thought is for the children, hoping that they'll be ok," said Geneviève Rioux, president of the FFARIQ, a federation representing 2,300 Quebec foster families.
"It's also disappointing," she added.
"Because it's clear for me [the families we represent] are all devoted people, with heart, who are doing things for the right reasons. So when we hear stories like this we try to figure out what went wrong."
'Rigorous screening'
Gina Landry, youth protection director for Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec, said all foster families go through rigorous screening and background checks before children are placed in their homes.
"We want to select the right people to give the right services to children."
But, according to Rioux, foster parents aren't always provided the resources they need once the children are in their care.
In the Drummondville case, the judge noted the children had suffered "numerous traumas" in their early life and developed behavioural issues throughout their time in foster care "in large part, because of a home environment that couldn't respond to their needs."
Families are left to their own devices to try to deal with situations with children who have behavioural issues.- Geneviève Rioux, president of the FFARIQ
The older boy had severe ADHD and a slight learning disability, while the younger boy sometimes acted out through violence, lying and stealing, Ménard said.
It was only once the foster parents themselves complained to youth protection to have the children removed from the home that officials finally took action, Ménard wrote.
Rioux said that's not unusual.
While she wouldn't comment on the specific case, she said some foster families feel that when they reach out to youth protection officials, they only get "rapped on the knuckles."
"We get a lot of 'don't do that,' but not a lot of solutions," she said.
"If families reach out and can't get help ... for sure you'll have some that will give up."
Support programs 'not enough'
Rioux, herself a foster mother for the past 10 years, said members complain that youth centres are "not available enough, not present enough."
Each child has his or her own case worker, who do home visits anywhere from every month to only once every six months or once a year, according to Rioux.
When a foster family calls because of a crisis with a child, it can sometimes take youth protection two weeks to return the call, she said.
"Families are left to their own devices to try to deal with situations with children who have behavioural issues," she said.
The foster family in Ménard's decision had undergone an intervention program to help keep children in the home, but the judge noted that it did not lead to sustained improvements in the home environment.
Legislative changes?
Rioux wants to see legislative changes to give foster families more of a say in the welfare of their foster children, including allowing them to be represented at hearings on changes to the children's custody, and giving them the right to be consulted before children are moved to a new foster home.
"The person who sees what's happening, day in day out, should have a say," she said.
The FFARIQ made the proposal at hearings last fall into Bill 99, the Quebec government's bill to update the youth protection act, which is currently under review at the National Assembly.