Children housed in Sask. government-funded group home were neglected, restrained: report

Four children who are in the care of the Ministry of Social Services were neglected and restrained during their time at a Saskatoon group home, according to a new report from the Saskatchewan Advocate For Children and Youth. 

Advocate Lisa Broda, who is an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, issued her findings in a report published Wednesday. 

The Ministry of Social Services fact-checked the report prior to publication, Broda said. 

The report details complaints received by the advocate's office, which included inappropriate discipline and abuse at a residential group home in Saskatoon's Lawson Heights neighbourhood. 

"In this home, one child was malnourished to the point of hospitalization. There were no sensory or therapeutic toys or tools in the home, and COVID protections were insufficient," Broda said Wednesday during a news conference in Saskatoon. 

Child found naked, lost, confused

The same home was the subject of an investigation in June 2020 after a seven-year-old boy with complex care needs ran away.

He was discovered in a Tim Horton's parking lot naked, lost and confused. The advocate says the Lawson Heights group home he was residing in had been struggling with staffing levels, internal discord and other critical issues.

The group home was not named in the report but CBC previously reported the home was operated by CBI Health Group, an Ontario company with more than 70 such homes across the country. 

Further complaints surfaced about group home

One month later, in July of 2020, the Ministry received several new concerns about the care of the four children — ages seven to 11 — in the same group home.

The province launched another investigation. It found evidence of inappropriate discipline along with physical and medical neglect.

"We don't want to see children that aren't safe. We don't want to see children that are malnourished. That is preventable. How are we seeing this? It's deeply concerning," Broda said.

"There's an obligation that they are the parent. They have a high onus to ensure those children in those group homes are safe and protected, that they are receiving quality services. If you're not doing that then it is a failure."

Lack of staffing initially flagged as a concern in June, remained ongoing. And a senior staff member from the company was dishonest with the government about the evidence gathered, said the report. 

The province did bring in more supports, but Broda said they were short-term solutions. 

"The ministry may manage well in a crisis, but its oversight strategy cannot be reactive," Broda said. 

"The structure and disparate roles and responsibilities as it stands currently enabled the most extremely vulnerable children to become invisible, their rights denied."

Group home closes

Following the second investigation, the company gave notice to the Ministry they're discontinuing the operating of the Lawson Heights group home. 

"According to the company, this decision related to several factors, including chronic difficulty recruiting staff, concerns with continuity of care with having staff from multiple agencies in a home, and that, '[…] it was best for the children if we just gave up the contract,'" the report read.

All four children have been placed in another home and are doing well, Broda said.

Province accepts advocate's recommendations

Broda put forth recommendations to address gaps in the system, which has nearly 1,000 children in government care.

They included creating more oversight into group homes, developing resources for group home operators and verifying the qualifications of staff who work with children.

Following the publication of her report, the province issued a statement saying it will accept all recommendations. 

"The ministry will provide the advocate with details on how we will strengthen our programs and services based on these recommendations in our formal response to the report in the coming weeks," said Tobie Eberhardt, acting assistant deputy minister child and family programs with the Ministry of Social Services. 

The ministry declined to comment on the specifics of the case because it involves children.