“Harmful Impacts” is the title of the Motherisk commission's report written by the Honourable Judith C. Beaman after two years of study. After reading it, “harmful” seems almost to be putting it lightly. Out of the over 16 000 tests (though that number has been reported as high as 35 000 tests) the commission only examined 56 cases of the flawed Motherisk tests, administered by the Motherisk lab between 2005 and 2015 and were determined to have a “substantial impact” on the decisions of child protection agencies to keep files open or led to children being permanently removed from their families.
WHAT ARE THE HARMFUL IMPACTS?
Separating kids from parents a 'textbook strategy' of domestic abuse, experts say — and causes irreversible, lifelong damage even when there seems to be no other choice.
“Being separated from parents or having inconsistent living conditions for long periods of time can create changes in thoughts and behavior patterns, and an increase in challenging behavior and stress-related physical symptoms,” such as sleep difficulty, nightmares, flashbacks, crying, and yelling says Amy van Schagen - California State University.
The Science Is Unequivocal: Separating Families Is Harmful to Children
In news stories and opinion pieces, psychological scientists are sharing evidence-based insight from decades of research demonstrating the harmful effects of separating parents and children.
In an op-ed in USA Today, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff (University of Delaware), Mary Dozier (University of Delaware), and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Temple University) write:
“Years of research are clear: Children need their parents to feel secure in the world, to explore and learn, and to grow strong emotionally.”
In a Washington Post op-ed, James Coan (University of Virginia) says:
“As a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Virginia, I study how the brain transforms social connection into better mental and physical health. My research suggests that maintaining close ties to trusted loved ones is a vital buffer against the external stressors we all face. But not being an expert on how this affects children, I recently invited five internationally recognized developmental scientists to chat with me about the matter on a science podcast I host. As we discussed the border policy’s effect on the children ensnared by it, even I was surprised to learn just how damaging it is likely to be.”
Mia Smith-Bynum (University of Maryland) is quoted in The Cut:
“The science leads to the conclusion that the deprivation of caregiving produces a form of extreme suffering in children. Being separated from a parent isn’t just a trauma — it breaks the relationship that helps children cope with other traumas.
Forceful separation is particularly damaging, explains clinical psychologist Mia Smith-Bynum, a professor of family science at the University of Maryland, when parents feel there’s nothing in their power that can be done to get their child back.
For all the dislocation, strangeness and pain of being separated forcibly from parents, many children can and do recover, said Mary Dozier, a professor of child development at the University of Delaware. “Not all of them — some kids never recover,” Dr. Dozier said. “But I’ve been amazed at how well kids can do after institutionalization if they’re able to have responsive and nurturing care afterward.”
The effects of that harm may evolve over time, says Antonio Puente, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington who specializes in cultural neuropsychology. What may begin as acute emotional distress could reemerge later in life as PTSD, behavioral issues and other signs of lasting neuropsychological damage, he says.
“A parent is really in many ways an extension of the child’s biology as that child is developing,” Tottenham said. “That adult who’s routinely been there provides this enormous stress-buffering effect on a child’s brain at a time when we haven’t yet developed that for ourselves. They’re really one organism, in a way.” When the reliable buffering and guidance of a parent is suddenly withdrawn, the riot of learning that molds and shapes the brain can be short-circuited, she said.
In a story from the BBC, Jack Shonkoff (Harvard University) discusses evidence related to long-term impacts:
Jack P Shonkoff, director of the Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, says it is incorrect to assume that some of the youngest children removed from their parents’ care will be too young to remember and therefore relatively unharmed. “When that stress system stays activated for a significant period of time, it can have a wear and tear effect biologically.
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2018: “We need to do more to make sure that children are safe and cared for. If a child dies in care, someone is responsible,” Children, Community and Social Services minister Lisa MacLeod added.
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Does that mean someone was responsible for all the deaths in care up to now or just from now on?
Between 2008/2012 natural causes was listed as the least likely way for a child in care to die at 7% of the total deaths reviewed while "undetermined cause" was listed as the leading cause of death of children in Ontario's child protection system at only 43% of the total deaths reviewed.
http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/sites/default/files/content/mcscs/images/195633-19.jpg
http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/PDRC/2013Report/PDRC_2013.html
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Why did 90 children die? By Laurie Monsebraaten SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTER
https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2009/02/23/why_did_90_children_die.html
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158 CANADIANS SOLDIERS DIED IN AFGHANISTAN BETWEEN 2002 AND 2011?
Canada in Afghanistan - Fallen Canadian Armed Forces Members.
One hundred and fifty-eight (158) Canadian Armed Forces members lost their lives in service while participating in our country’s military efforts in Afghanistan. You can click on the names to explore their entries in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/canadian-armed-forces/afghanistan-remembered/fallen
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“From the CASs to group homes to my ministry, we all bear some (or all) responsibility,” MacLeod said, referring to Ontario’s 49 children’s aid societies. “And I want to assure the house that, as the new minister, the buck stops with me and I will take action before I'm held accountable.”
(Is the ministry simply avoiding the responsibility by sharing the blame with everyone?)
Between 2014\15 the Ontario children's aid society claim to have spent $467.9 million dollars providing "protective services" that doesn't seem to extent to the 90 to 120 children that die in Ontario's group and foster homes that are overseen and funded by the CAS.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/09/25/coroners-panel-calls-for-overhaul-of-ontario-child-protection-system.html
Ontario's Government for the People Taking Action to Build Better Child Protection System
Ontario Ombudsman will assume investigation responsibilities to better protect and help province’s most vulnerable children
May 1, 2019 9:00 A.M.Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
Ontario's government is keeping children safe by expanding and enhancing oversight of the child protection and residential services systems.
Today, the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman will assume all investigative functions of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth. It is a crucial step towards building a better child protection system. These changes, set out in the Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act, 2018 introduced last fall, will bring greater oversight and provide better support for children in care.
“We want Ontario’s most vulnerable children and youth to thrive and be supported in reaching their potential,” said Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “We must strengthen oversight and hold service providers accountable when young people are not getting the services they need.”
The Ombudsman’s office will take on responsibility for investigations related to children and youth receiving services from children’s aid societies or residential licensees, and address complaints using the office's early resolution and investigations mechanisms. The Ombudsman must also be notified of the death or of serious bodily harm to children or youth who have received services from a children’s aid society.
Staff from the office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth will be transferred to the Ombudsman’s office to help ensure quality service and appropriate resources for investigations. This will allow for a more effective transfer of investigations and is part of the overall approach to expanding the scope and mandate of the Ombudsman.
To further support building a better child protection system, the minister earlier announced three new youth roundtables dedicated to sharing ideas for improvement. Overseen by three chairs appointed by and reporting directly to the minister, the three new roundtables will be made up of those with lived experience including Black and Indigenous youth, to support transformation of the child welfare and youth justice systems.
“Our government is focused on providing better results and better lives for these children,” said Minister Macleod. “As we work to improve the system, it is vital that we always respect the rights of every child and encourage their voices to be heard, and I am committed to listening and incorporating youth voice in all our programs and services.”
Children’s aid societies and residential licensees are now required to inform a child in care of the existence of the Ombudsman, the office’s functions, and how the office may be contacted. They are also required to provide a child in care who wishes to contact the Ombudsman with the means to do so privately and without delay. Children and youth will be able to use the same telephone number to reach the Ombudsman that previously connected them to the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth.
https://news.ontario.ca/mcys/en/2019/05/ontarios-government-for-the-people-taking-action-to-build-better-child-protection-system.html
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Searing report blasts child protection system.
Ontario coroner calls for ‘urgent’ overhaul after 12 youths died while in province’s care Toronto Star 26 Sep 2018 LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN SANDRO CONTENTA.
Foster home tragedy blamed on bolted door, loose rules Youth worker Andrea Reid, left, and 14-year-old resident Kassy Finbow were killed in a Feb. 24 fire at a foster home near Lindsay.
A scathing report from Ontario’s coroner presses the provincial government to reform a child protection system that “repeatedly failed” 12 youths who died while in care.
“Change is necessary, and the need is urgent,” said the report, written by a panel of experts appointed by chief coroner Dirk Huyer last November to examine the spike of deaths between January 2014 and July 2017.
The 86-page report found that the 12 youths — eight of whom were Indigenous — were all in the care of Ontario’s child protection system and living in unsafe homes when they died.
The report describes a fragmented system with no means of monitoring quality of care, where ministry oversight is inadequate, caregivers lack training, and children are poorly supervised. Vulnerable children are being warehoused and forgotten.
The expert panel convened by Ontario chief coroner Dirk Huyer to avoid another very "embarrassing" public inquest for our extremely secretive child welfare officials - the expert panel (leaving out nothing) found a litany of other problems, including:
Evidence that some of the youths were "at risk of and/or engaged in human trafficking."
A lack of communication between child welfare societies.
Poor case file management.
An "absence" of quality care in residential placements.
Eleven of the young people ranged in age from 11 to 18. The exact age of one youth when she died wasn't clear in the report.
The inquest into Jeffrey Baldwin's death was supposed to shed light on the child welfare system and prevent more needless child deaths. Baldwin's inquest jury made 103 recommendations. Sep 06, 2013.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/inquest-into-boy-s-death-to-shed-light-on-child-welfare-system-1.1699846
Nearly six months after the inquest into the death of Katelynn Sampson began, jurors delivered another 173 recommendations. APRIL 29, 2016.
https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/inquest-into-death-of-7-year-old-girl-emphasizes-duty-to-report-abuse/article29798749/
276 OFFICIAL REASONS FOR CONCERN ABOUT CHILDREN IN CARE.
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“Despite complex histories and the high-risk nature of these young people’s lives, intervention was minimal and sometimes non-existent,” said the panel in a withering report released Tuesday.
On average, the youths were moved to 12 different foster homes and group homes in their short lives. Lack of resources in the North resulted in most being sent to residences 1,600 kilometres from their communities, cut off from their culture. All of them suffered from mental health challenges and eight of them died by suicide.
In an interview, Huyer said the report describes a system that is basically non-existent because there is “no co-ordination, (and) no integration” of services.
At Queen’s Park Tuesday, Children, Community and Social Services minister Lisa MacLeod promised to move quickly. “From the CASs to group homes to my ministry, we all bear some responsibility,” MacLeod said, referring to Ontario’s 49 children’s aid societies. “And I want to assure the house that, as the new minister, the buck stops with me and I will take action.” “We need to do more to make sure that children are safe and cared for. If a child dies, someone is responsible,” MacLeod added.
In an interview with the Star’s Kristin Rushowy, MacLeod said she’ll insist on more accountability from societies and group homes, more ministry inspections and more co-ordination among ministries and service providers. The government has committed more funds for mental health services, and MacLeod said she’s in talks with the health ministry to make sure the extra resources go where they’re needed.
“If we are making the decision to take a child out of their home, the supports in those group homes or other residential settings must be better than what they left and I’m setting that direction today,” MacLeod said.
Ontario’s child-protection system serves some 14,000 kids taken from abusive or neglectful parents, and helps many more in their own homes.
The panel recommended that children in struggling families should be helped at home and in their communities as much as possible. It called for a “holistic,” culturally sensitive approach to services focused on prevention and early intervention. Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler spoke with MacLeod about the report Tuesday and is meeting with federal Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott on Oct. 2. He wants to strike a committee with Ottawa and Queen’s Park to ensure the panel’s recommendations are carried out.
“The way to honour the 12 youth who were lost, and their families, is to ensure these recommendations are fully implemented in a timely manner,” said Fiddler, adding he’ll also strike a forum to hear from the families who lost loved ones.
The health challenges faced by the Indigenous youth who died were compounded by the gross inequities their communities face, including inadequate shelter, water, food, education and health care, the panel found. Some family members reached by the Star said they had not yet read the report. But Amy Owen’s father, Jeffrey, from Poplar Hill First Nation, north of Kenora, said he was disappointed a key point was omitted.
“Amy was supposed to have 24/7 supervision and yet why was she left alone for that long to lose her life,” he said, questioning why the report didn’t address the reason his daughter was left by herself for almost half an hour. When staff returned, Amy, one of several youth in the area who had formed a suicide pact, was found hanging. She was 13.
The coroner’s panel, which included a team of 13 youths with experience in the system, noted the young people had little say in their care. “Their attempts to communicate their needs were often overlooked, ignored and characterized as ‘attention seeking,’” the panel found.
Ontario’s Child Advocate Irwin Elman was outraged by the panel’s findings: “Enough is enough. Enough loss of life. That young people should survive our province’s attempts to protect and support them is a low bar to set, but that is where we are.”
Mary Ballantyne, the former head of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, said it’s clear “the system is currently failing many of these very high needs children in particular, there’s no question about that. And pointing fingers at the children's aid societies and our workers is not the step that we need to take.”
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/09/25/coroners-panel-calls-for-overhaul-of-ontario-child-protection-system.html
Nearly half of children in Crown care are medicated.
Psychotropic drugs are being prescribed to nearly half the Crown wards in a sample of Ontario children's aid societies, kindling fears that the agencies are overusing medication with the province's most vulnerable children.
Ontario researchers have found that not only were psychotropic drugs prescribed to a clear majority of the current and former wards interviewed, but most were diagnosed with mental-health disorders by a family doctor, never visited a child psychiatrist or another doctor for a second opinion, and doubted the accuracy of their diagnosis.
A Toronto Star investigation has found Ontario’s most vulnerable children in the care of an unaccountable and non-transparent protection system. It keeps them in the shadows, far beyond what is needed to protect their identities.
“When people are invisible, bad things happen,” says Irwin Elman, Ontario’s now former and last advocate for children and youth with the closure of the Office.
A disturbing number, the network's research director, Yolanda Lambe, added, have traded the child-welfare system for a life on the street.
"A lot of people are using drugs now," she said. "There's a lot of homeless young people who have been medicated quite heavily."
In Ontario the CAS has turned themselves into a multi-billion dollar private corporation using any excuse to compel parents into submitting to fake drug testing to justify removing children or keeping files open keeping that government funding flowing.
All the while they've taking the thousands of children to specific CAS approved doctors who are all to happy to prescribe medication based on the workers assessments of the child's condition.. That's why there are no follow ups with qualified medical and psychiatric doctors and not because the CAS lack the funding, staff or attention span to care properly for the children.
Marti McKay is a Toronto child psychologist was hired by a CAS to assess the grandparents' capacity as guardians only to discover a child so chemically altered that his real character was clouded by the side effects of adult doses of drugs.
"There are lots of other kids like that," said Dr. McKay, one of the experts on the government panel. "If you look at the group homes, it's close to 100 per cent of the kids who are on not just one drug, but on drug cocktails with multiple diagnoses.
"There are too many kids being diagnosed with ... a whole range of disorders that are way out of proportion to the normal population. ... It's just not reasonable to think the children in care would have such overrepresentation in these rather obscure disorders."
According to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail under Ontario's Freedom of Information Act, 47 per cent of the Crown wards - children in permanent CAS care - at five randomly picked agencies were prescribed psychotropics last year to treat depression, attention deficit disorder, anxiety and other mental-health problems. And, the wards are diagnosed and medicated far more often than are children in the general population.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nearly-half-of-children-in-crown-care-are-medicated/article687480/
"Use of 'behaviour-altering' drugs widespread in foster, group homes."
Almost half of children and youth in foster and group home care aged 5 to 17 — 48.6 per cent — are on drugs, such as Ritalin, tranquilizers and anticonvulsants, according to a yearly survey conducted for the provincial government and the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS). At ages 16 and 17, fully 57 per cent are on these medications.
In group homes, the figure is even higher — an average of 64 per cent of children and youth are taking behaviour-altering drugs. For 10- to 15-year-olds, the number is a staggering 74 per cent.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/12/12/use_of_behaviouraltering_drugs_widespread_in_foster_group_homes.html
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What’s worse is that the number of children prescribed dangerous drugs is on the rise. Doctors seem to prescribe medication without being concerned with the side-effects.
Worldwide, 17 million children, some as young as five years old, are given a variety of different prescription drugs, including psychiatric drugs that are dangerous enough that regulatory agencies in Europe, Australia, and the US have issued warnings on the side effects that include suicidal thoughts and aggressive behavior.
According to Fight For Kids, an organization that “educates parents worldwide on the facts about today’s widespread practice of labeling children mentally ill and drugging them with heavy, mind-altering, psychiatric drugs,” says over 10 million children in the US are prescribed addictive stimulants, antidepressants and other psychotropic (mind-altering) drugs for alleged educational and behavioral problems.
In fact, according to Foundation for a Drug-Free World, every day, 2,500 youth (12 to 17) will abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time (4). Even more frightening, prescription medications like depressants, opioids and antidepressants cause more overdose deaths (45 percent) than illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and amphetamines (39 percent) combined. Worldwide, prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death.
https://dailyhealthpost.com/common-prescription-drugs/
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Standards of Care for the Administration of Psychotropic Medications to Children and Youth Living in Licensed Residential Settings.
Summary of Recommendations of the Ontario Expert Panel February 2009.
http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/documents/specialneeds/residential/summary_report.pdf
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2009: Ninety children known to Ontario's child welfare system died in 2007, according to the latest report from the chief coroner's office – a number the province's new child advocate says is shocking and should trouble us all.
https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2009/02/23/why_did_90_children_die.html
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Why did 90 children die?
https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2009/02/23/why_did_90_children_die.html
Between 2008/2012 natural causes was listed as the least likely way for a child in care to die at 7% of the total deaths reviewed while "undetermined cause" was listed as the leading cause of death of children in Ontario's child protection system at only 43% of the total deaths reviewed.
92 children equals 43% of the deaths reviewed by the PDRC. 92 mystery deaths and like every other year no further action was taken to determine the cause...
http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/sites/default/files/content/mcscs/images/195633-19.jpg
http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/PDRC/2013Report/PDRC_2013.html
WHY CAN'T THESE DEATHS BE PREDICTED WHEN THEY HAPPEN EVERY YEAR?
AND HOW IS IT AN AGENCY THAT CAN DETERMINE WHICH CHILDREN ARE AT RISK IN ANY OTHER SITUATION CAN'T DETERMINE WHICH CHILDREN ARE AT RISK IN THEIR OWN GROUP AND FOSTER HOMES?
The 14 Characteristics of Fascism
Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The excerpt is in accordance with the magazine's policy.
https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html
The 14 characteristics are:
Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Copyright © 2003 Free Inquiry magazine
Reprinted for Fair Use Only.
This article was based upon the article "The Hallmarks of Fascist Regime" by Skip Stone, at
www.hippy.com/php/article-226.html.
Corporatism.
Fascism's theory of economic corporatism involved management of sectors of the economy by government or privately-controlled organizations (corporations). Each trade union or employer corporation would theoretically represent its professional concerns, especially by negotiation of labor contracts and the like.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism
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