The “abhorrent” neglect of a young boy with autism spectrum disorder has prompted B.C.’s child watchdog to call for an overhaul of provincial services for children with special needs.
In a report released Monday morning, Jennifer Charlesworth, representative for children and youth, says the 12-year-old boy was removed from his mother’s care on the Lower Mainland in 2016 after being found “naked and filthy, severely underweight, unable to walk, and living in a bedroom covered in garbage and feces.” He had been screaming for half an hour before police arrived at the home.
The signs of neglect were “so abhorrent that first responders who arrived at the home were traumatized,” says the 124-page report, Alone and Afraid.
Despite the fact his family had been known to the Ministry of Children and Family Development since 2006, the boy “endured years of malnutrition, inadequate and sporadic services to address his extreme special needs, and little education or socialization,” the report says.
There were eight formal reports to MCFD from people concerned about the boy’s well being and the ministry did four child protection assessments without ever seeing the boy, the report says.
“The lack of eyes on [the boy] by child protection workers is the most literal example of him going ‘unseen’ by the system that was supposed to support and protect him,” the report says.
The boy’s father is of First Nations descent, but the ministry never identified the boy as a First Nations child or linked him to his extended family and culture.
Nearly three years later, Charlesworth reports that the boy is living in a foster home and doing well. He’s back in school, healthy and well nourished, the report says. “He is described by those who know him best as affectionate, clever and observant.”
Charlesworth stresses her report is not meant to cast blame on social workers, “but to shine a light on the shortcomings of a system that obviously does not have the capacity to offer the depth of services and oversight that are required in such complex cases.”
Charlesworth calls on the ministry to conduct a thorough review of the ministry’s ability to help children and youth with special needs.
“The ministry should examine funding, staffing levels and workloads, program delivery and wait times, identify necessary improvements to the system and take action so that children with special needs and their families can be consistently well-served,” she writes.
Charlesworth also recommends more immediate steps such as providing respite for families who need it and checking to make sure that families are taking advantage of the autism funding that’s available to them.
In addition, Charlesworth calls for the ministry to work with the ministries of health and education to improve information sharing by providing families with a case coordinator. She says one person with clear understanding of the file likely would have made a difference in this case by helping the family navigate the system and get access to all the necessary services.
