During a coroner’s inquest into the death of Florence Girard, a woman with Down Syndrome who starved to death in government care, a witness detailed how chronic underfunding has plagued the Crown corporation that oversees living arrangements for vulnerable disabled people.
Christine Scott, the CEO of Kinsight Community Services, the agency contracted to supervise the home where Girard lived with caregiver Astrid Dahl, spoke during the inquest on Monday.
She described how a shared living coordinator should have been checking in on Girard to ensure she was safe and healthy, but had not visited the home in more than six months.
Girard had not been to a medical appointment for four years prior to her death, and she had no healthcare plan - required from the province for people in its care with complex medical needs.
The inquest has heard the shared living coordinator, Krista Maniezzo, supervised more than 25 different high needs clients in various private homes throughout the tri-cities.
“The funding has been extremely rigid,” Scott said about the agreement with CLBC for shared living coordinators. “It’s one to 25.”
She said recruitment and retention of qualified candidates has also been an ongoing issue. The province does not pay enough to attract people with the relevant training and experience, she said.
“You do not have an established credentialing system for that role,” Scott added.
“And you don’t have funding to attract people with sufficient qualifications.”
Girard’s sister, Sharon Bursey, has attended all six days of the inquest so far.
“They’re hiring people that have no qualifications at all to go and review people that are not doing their job,” she said, in response to Scott’s testimony.
On the stand, Scott became emotional when she was asked if there was anything she would like to say to Girard’s family.
“There have been many times that I’ve wanted to reach out and there are things that have gotten in the way of that, advice given, and concerns around liability. It hurts my heart that that’s the world we live in,” she said.
“I apologize for not doing better. There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t thought about Flo and her family.”
Scott looked directly at Bursey, her voice wavering as she spoke.
“Her apology today just made me angry,” Bursey said outside the coroner’s court.
“She didn’t apologize for Florence starving to death. That should not have happened. This is Canada.”
After Girard’s death, Dahl, the paid caregiver, was charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.
She was later convicted and received a 15-month sentence, but managed to avoid actually spending any time behind bars.
Kinsight Community Services was also criminally charged following a lengthy RCMP investigation, but the BC Prosecution Service eventually stayed those charges.
In response to questions about allegations of chronic underfunding of CLBC contractors, Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction sent a statement.
“Since Florence Girard’s terrible death in 2018, CLBC has improved its standards for home sharing monitoring and having its service providers conduct regular visits,” the statement said.
“After the inquest, CLBC and I will review any and all recommendations from the jury on how to further improve accountability and safety.”
A representative from Community Living BC is scheduled to testify at the inquest later in the week.
