'How is this child protection?': Family of six-year-old B.C. boy seeks answers after death in foster care
The tragic death of a six-year-old boy on Vancouver Island is under review after his mom says he died less than a week into being placed in foster care without an explanation to her family.
Jade Ratchford says her son, Oliver, was found unresponsive, face down in a pond and later died in hospital.
“They took my baby. They killed him… MCFD killed my son,” she writes in a statement blaming the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development. “How is this child protection? How is this right? How is this the government’s idea of what safety is?”
Grace Lore, the children's minister, said she cannot comment on any case related to a child in care, even when a family comes forward, due to privacy reasons. Lore said the situation is every parent’s worst nightmare.
“My thoughts are with the family and community of this little boy. I’m a mom of a seven- and a nine-year-old. I cannot imagine what this family is going through,” said Lore.
She says foster parents undergo rigorous assessments before a child is placed in their care, including home safety visits.
“It is my expectation and my direction to the ministry that we are doing everything if a child dies in care so that we understand what happened and how it happened so we can take actions to ensure children are safe and protected – whether at home or in our care,” said Lore.
B.C.’s watchdog for children and youth says her office will also conduct a review.
Representative for children and youth Dr. Jennifer Charlesworth says the system is facing tremendous pressure.
“We’re seeing workforce shortages unlike anything I have ever seen in my 46 years of practice. We’re seeing situations (where) there’s simply not the capacity to provide the services and resources that are necessary,” said Charlesworth. “So the complexity of what we’re dealing with right now, our system was never designed to meet those kinds of needs.”
Oliver’s allies support the spotlight on accountability and have turned to helping his family.
Family friend Stephanie Paquette says she’s collecting donations to pay for funeral costs, meals and other expenses.
“[Oliver] is such a sweet, funny, smart, very curious little boy. And everyone who knew him fell in love with him. So yeah, I’m just heartbroken,” said Paquette.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.