Search This Blog

Search This Blog

Search This Blog

Translate

Friday, December 22, 2006

Jeffrey's Memorial Site

To get to Jeffrey's memorial site in Greenwood Park: (this is the only way I know, however, the actual address is 150 Greenwood Park should you need to do a mapquest)

From 401 west take 427/ Renforth exit (I suppose it's the same if you're coming from the east)

Take 427 south lane

Go east on Gardiner Parkway or Lakeshore Blvd. eventually both merge together to become Lakeshore

Turn left onto Leslie Street

Turn right onto Dundas Street West

Turn left onto Greenwood, you will see the park on your left

Jeffrey's bench, tree and plaque are near the children's playground and water park, in between the washrooms and arena buildings. Just so you know, it's usually wet in that area, I didn't take into consideration the area was lower there when choosing the location.

I hope many, many people will still go and visit. There are ribbons in the tree, so people have been going which is good. Unfortunately someone has written on the bench, so I will re-paint it in the spring.

Happy holidays all and if you're looking for a place to donate money or time this year, may I suggest your local Humane Society or the Canadian Center for Abuse Awareness. (which is NOT affiliated with any C/CAS!)
www.ccfaa.com

Take care,
Amanda

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Amanda,

First of all I wish to thank you for your efforts in bringing to light Jeffrey's story and calling people to action in preventing a similar fate from happening to another child. I have followed with great interest the circumstances surrounding Jeffrey's death and the subsequent trial of his grandparents. It is beyond belief that these despicable creatures (i.e. Jeffrey's grandparents) could have treated Jeffrey and his sister, as they did. As a father of a 10 month old son, I could never dream of doing such a thing. EVER. My son gives me unconditional love, and it is my responsibility to look after his well-being and make sure "that I've got his Back Covered". What astonishes me in all of this is that only Jeffrey's Grandparents were tried and convicted of their crimes. What about the other adults? Clearly they were accomplices as they had seen what was happening and chose to look the other way and do nothing. Why haven't these individuals been charged? In my opinion, they should all be.

Amanda, in all that I have read, there is no mention made of where Jeffrey has been buried. It is my desire to pay my respects to this innocent child, especially at this very important time of year. I would be very appreciative if you could tell me where I may find him so that I may do.

May you and all your readers have a warm Christmas and/or happy holiday.

Take Care,
Pat

Anonymous said...

Amanda I also wish to thank you for giving Jeffrey kindness, and dignity with your beautiful memorial plaque. I will visit the site sometime when I am in Toronto.

Best wishes,

Anne Patterson

Anonymous said...

Some one said that Jeffrey was cremated and his(father) has his remains,although I dont think he desrves to keep him.I wish all of you a merry X-mas ,and to my little angel JEFFREY-I love you and will think of you at X-mas.I hung an ornament with your name on the tree to honour you and welcome you into my family.You will always be with us.Love you forever .Hugs and kisses.Love Anna

Anonymous said...

I loved your post Anna. I have the feeling that a thousand angels have their arms around that darling, precious little boy tonight, and forever.

Anonymous said...

Just to let you wonderful caring peope know they are naming the park after Jeffrey as well that should take place in the spring. I'll keep you in touch.
It will say"Jeffrey's Place"
"he will live in our hearts forever"
And in the background it will have a drawing of some young children from the area.
E

Anonymous said...

I'm happy to hear this, as I suggested it many postings ago on this blog. He deserves that to say the least.

Anne Patterson

Anonymous said...

Aaaaaash poor CAS had a rough time in 2006, my heart bleeds...

Heat's on child welfare

By VIVIAN SONG, TORONTO SUN
They misspent thousands of dollars on luxury cars, all-inclusive Caribbean trips and private gym memberships.

They failed Jeffrey Baldwin, handing the 5-year-old tyke back to his grandmother, who had been convicted of killing her own baby years ago as a teenage mother.

The boy was so starved of food he lapped water out of a toilet and died at 21 pounds.

Two little girls, Serena Campione, 3, and her sister Sophia, 1, also died under the watch of the Children's Aid society in another headline story that rocked the city after the mother -- who neighbours and relatives warned was mentally unstable -- was charged with murder.

It's been a rough ride for Ontario's child welfare system, appearing in headline stories all year.

The government's answer was to create more middle-man positions like a youth advocate and accountability office to oversee the 53 CASs in Ontario. But child advocates and opposition critics claimed the new posts don't have the power to investigate complaints.

Instead of spending more money to set up these posts, give the power of oversight to the Ombudsman who already has all the tools, says Hamilton East MPP Andrea Horwath. Her private member's bill passed first reading in the spring.

Ombudsman Andre Marin has also appealed to the province to give him jurisdiction over CAS agencies, calling Ontario's dealings with the child welfare system a "weak-kneed approach."

"When you look at the different provinces, Ontario provides the weakest oversight over the child protection system," he said. "They just don't want to relinquish control."

Anonymous said...

An article never published........

Justice for Jeffrey

The sentences for Torontonians, Elva Bottineau 54, and Norman Kidman, 53, who were found guilty of second degree murder in the death of their grandson Jeffrey Baldwin is fitting, and appropriate. Justice David Watt, should be commended for his judicial response to this dreadful crime in giving the perpetrators 20 and 22 years in prison. Though many concerned wanted a full 25 years for both.

The pair had a history of child abuse; and heinous abuse at that. Bottineau’s infant daughter Eva was killed decades before; in what was described as battered child syndrome. Two of her other children were removed from her in and Kidman in the 1970’s, after being subjected to brutal abuse. The history of this dangerous pair was dark indeed.

Jeffrey’s death has invoked a profound outrage by many, and rightfully so. His torture and death marks one of the worst cases of child abuse in Canadian history. Most disturbing, is that he was placed into the Bottineau/Kidman home by the Toronto Catholic Children’s Aid Society. This agency had a long history with the family. It was discovered after Jeffrey’s death - that both of his grandparents were child abusers, as was documented in the societies own records. Jeffrey and his three siblings were given to Bottineau and Kidman, none the less.

It was in the late 1800’s that John Joseph Kelso orchestrated the first Children’s Aid Society in Toronto, the very city where the little boy was found on November 30, 2002. He was wrapped in a towel, left deceased on a countertop, with his murderers attempting to cover up the most heinous fact of all – they had killed this child. They had beaten this child, they had kept him locked in a cold, dark, room; described by Superior Court Justice David Watt, who presided over the case as a “dungeon”. They had slowly starved him, tortured him, and essentially massacred an innocent little boy. Jeffrey Baldwin changed from a darling, sweet baby with blonde ringlets, and a slightly plump baby/toddler belly, to a small corpse that looked like he had been through a war. In truth he had been through a war, in a house with adults who did nothing to save him; and with no soldiers to defend him. He was a beautiful baby, as all babies and children are.

The CCAS allowed him to be placed into a house of horrors, and they also allowed the murderers to be “caregivers” to other children in CCAS care years before his murder – a fact that has left people all the more outraged. This is no small blunder; the pain of what Jeffrey endured is mammoth, and difficult to digest without reeling in both sadness and anger. His siblings will be traumatized forever as well.

The other adults in the house are going to be addressed, and included by a lawsuit against the Toronto CCAS, by the office of the Children’s lawyer of Ontario – and rightfully so, but lawsuits are not enough. Now at a time where we know more about child abuse, and when we are more educated about this issue or should be - it makes this tragedy all the more reeling. I have long compared child welfare to the Handmaid’s Tale, and 1984 all rolled into one. Jeffrey Baldwin and this horrific story make it Stephen King, as the shell-shocked foster mother of his surviving siblings said, in an interview with the Fifth Estate in the CBC’s documentary “Failing Jeffrey”. There are no winners in such a tragedy, but there must be answers above all, as well as changes to the very core of the system.

As someone that has reunited other adopted adults, and those fostered for the past 16 long years, what remains most chilling for me about Jeffrey Baldwin, is that this is not the first time that a child has been given to child abusers by a CAS. Hardly a week goes by when I do not hear from others fostered, and adopted as arranged by CAS agencies who suffered abuse in the very homes alleged to keep them safe. Many want a full legal inquiry into the system at large, in addition to a detailed inquiry about Jeffrey specifically.

Jeffrey Baldwin’s grandparents couldn’t have been more inappropriate for him, and a police background check would have automatically stopped this from happening, as both had convictions for child abuse. This did not happen. Even with such checks it is never enough to say that a home study can keep a child eternally safe. It is not enough to use such a mechanism as a total and absolute measure of safety. And it is not enough to deem one facet of society as being abusers, and others not capable. Be it in natural families, fostered or adopted – child abuse has no borders, and no one group of society is exempt from this horrible blight. Education about this is as necessary, as some believe an inquiry is.

While Jeffrey’s story has gripped thousands of people, the most important response to this case politically, comes from NDP Andrea Horwath’s Bill 88. This bill will enable the Ontario Ombudsman to investigate the 53 Children’s Aid Societies of Ontario. Five other Provinces have this oversight, and Ontario should adopt the same provision.

In all facets of our society the true mark of growth is very often accepting real change. I believe this to be true, be it as individuals or with institutions. The 53 Children’s Aid Societies should have independent oversight, as even the police have oversight mechanisms - yet these agencies do not in the year of 2006. The Ombudsman alone receives sometimes over 400 complaints yearly, regarding Children’s Aid Societies. Yesteryears wards want more accountability; today’s wards want more accountability, as do the families of the children who were previously in care, and those currently in the system. There can be no intelligent reason to prevent such important changes.

How an agency failed Jeffrey and his siblings repeatedly are questions that will be examined by an upcoming inquest into the matter, called by Ontario’s chief coroner. Jeffrey deserves this, and just as important, all children deserve accountability from the 53 Children’s Aid Societies of Ontario. It isn’t enough to turn our heads away from this due to the revulsion and horror of such a tragedy, adults have more of a voice in society then children do. It is up to us to speak for them when we can, it is up to us to protect them when we must, and it is up to the Ontario government to enact changes that are direly necessary. Bill 88 is the least of what should happen in response to this little boy’s death. It is disturbing when we even have to ask: who is protecting children from the protectors?

The public clearly wants Ombudsman oversight. For Jeffrey it is too late, for other children it is not. If we have any hope left for their future, the government should do the right thing. Jeffrey Baldwin is the ultimate failure of the Toronto CCAS, he was a lamb sent to a slaughter. I am not a religious person, but rather spiritual, and to borrow a simple yet fitting quote in what we can learn from this tragedy, and in how we can prevent others from happening is this; “And a little child shall lead them; Isaiah (11:6).”

May that beautiful angel rest in peace and a system long overdue for change finally take its cue.


Anne Patterson
London, Ontario

Anonymous said...

Wow,x-mas is over and all I thought about was Jeffrey.I caught myself tearing up when my kids started to open their presents.THere were so many and I wish that Jeffrey was here to open his up with us.I would have given him the world.I'm so emotional about this.Happy New year to all and to my little angel .Hugs and kissess.Love Anna

Anonymous said...

http://www.sarahmclachlan.com/discography/lyrics.jsp?song_id=7704

This from a genius adoptee in her words.......

World On Fire

The worlds on fire its more then I can handle Ill tap into the water try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
Youre not alone in these stories pages The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And Ill try to hold it in
Yeah Ill try to hold it in

Chorus

I watch the heavens but I find no calling Something I can do to change whats coming

Stay close to me while the skys falling I dont wanna be left alone dont wanna be alone

Chorus

Hearts break hearts mend love still hurts Visions clash planes crash still theres talk of
saving souls still colds closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run

The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some

Chorus

Anonymous said...

Written by Sting & Dominic Miller

He deals the cards as a meditation

And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins

He don't play for respect

He deals the cards to find the answer The sacred geometry of chance

The hidden law of a probable outcome The numbers lead a dance

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier

I know that the clubs are weapons of war

I know that diamonds mean money for this art

But that's not the shape of my heart

He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier

I know that the clubs are weapons of war

I know that diamonds mean money for this art

But that's not the shape of my heart

(*)That's not the shape, the shape of my heart

And if I told you that I loved you
You'd maybe think there's something wrong

I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one

Well, those who speak know nothin'
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who fear are lost

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier

I know that the clubs are weapons of war

I know that diamonds mean money for this art

But that's not the shape of my heart

(*)That's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape, the shape of my heart

Anonymous said...

DiManno: Minding the minders

Report on children's aid societies shows that it isn't just the money that needs better care

December 06, 2006
Rosie DiManno
Toronto Star Newspaper

When Jeffrey Baldwin died a miserable, lonely death, the courts took their pound of flesh from his grandparents, who were convicted of second-degree murder.

The chronically starved 5-year-old had only 21 pounds of flesh and stunted bones on his wasted little frame.

Yet the Catholic Children's Aid Society, which had placed that doomed boy in the custody of his wicked grandparents — never even checking their own records, thus unaware the "caregivers" were both convicted child abusers — was not made to answer for such a tragic lapse of judgment.

No caseworker, no supervisor, no executive was ever called to the stand. That was largely a tactical decision made by the Crown attorney, who did not wish to shift any of the blame from the two accused.

But the CCAS was acutely responsible for Jeffrey's fate. And there was no reckoning.

The thing is, child welfare agencies have enormous autonomy in Ontario: Their decisions rarely scrutinized, their finances unexamined, their catastrophic failures revisited only at coroner's inquests. Tens of thousands of children placed in their safekeeping — directly, as wards of the state, or indirectly, in monitored at-risk households — and nobody really knows how they're faring, if they're receiving appropriate services, whether they're hurting.

The provincial government doesn't know. That was pitifully evident in the auditor general's report released yesterday.

Ontario lacks even a standardized province-wide information system to collect and assess the data that exists.

They know not the age and gender of children receiving services; the proportion of children receiving services who are taken into care; the proportion of children who've received services and then been victimized again; the types of reported and investigated maltreatment; the number of children moved from one placement to another.

This audit is essentially a financial closeup. It speaks of cases and care plans far more frequently than vulnerable children and damaged youths.

It follows the money — $1.218 billion for the 2004/05 fiscal year — and annotates some of the more grotesque misuses of funds: senior managers driving agency-issued SUVs worth up to $60,000, lavish restaurant meals, $600 monthly car allowances despite exclusive use of CAS vehicles, trips to Caribbean resorts, unsupported billings to corporate credit cards, a $2,000 gym membership for one senior executive along with quarterly personal trainer fees of $650, $150 car washes.

Such extravagances only hint at the culture of entitlement and self-determination — the astonishing fiscal and moral latitude — that pervades these agencies.

The excesses uncovered all relate to the four societies investigated: Toronto, York, Peel and Thunder Bay, which accounted for almost 25 per cent of total CAS expenditures. Auditor General Jim McCarter does not tie any of this mismanagement and malfeasance to a specific CAS, although the report notes that one particular society was most often referenced. The Star has learned that agency is the Toronto CAS.

Senior managers take what's not coming to them, while child referrals — initial intake and investigation — go begging for follow-up. In one-third of the cases reviewed, where a child should have seen a caseworker within either 12 hours or seven days, visits were late by an average of 21 days. Ninety per cent of cases reviewed for completion of "initial plans of service'' — what to do with the child, assessment of risk and need — went uncompleted for months, a few times late by more than 400 days.

And there's cheating, too. In one case, three plans of care were completed for a child on the same day — 192 days after the first was due. That's catching up, on paper. But there's a real child inside that file.

"Non-compliance'' with requirements is how the report dryly puts it. In human terms, consider these children: The youngster, beaten by his mother, who was not seen until his aunt and school principal called again 12 days after the mandated deadline had passed. Or another child never visited at all, the explanation being that the caseworker hadn't been able to reach the mother over five months. When contact was finally made, the mother said, s'okay, everything okey-dokey, and the worker simply closed the file.

Only last March did the Child Death Reporting and Review Directive come into effect, requiring the societies to report all child deaths to the chief coroner. Up till then, the government had no idea how many kids under protection had died.

Since their inception, these societies have been fiefdoms unto themselves, with minimal oversight from what is now the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. The little review that once was done had been dropped in recent years, with audits of non-Crown wards and child protection files discontinued in 2003. While this Liberal government introduced a risk assessment model — to promote consistency and accountability in the intake process — it failed to monitor its implementation.

The agencies determine when a child should be removed from the family home and when that child can safely remain. But they have a remarkable knack for getting it wrong repeatedly, which we know from the headline disasters. And they're rarely held to account for that, or much else.

Children's aid societies can afford lawyers, and properly so. Sometimes, though, deep pockets obfuscate and obstruct. In the Jeffrey Baldwin case, detectives complained about the lack of co-operation in obtaining documents from a resistant CCAS. The auditor general's report, in a separate case, refers to a society that paid a law firm an annual retainer of $160,000, with poor records as to actual services rendered.

Gobs of cash going out; distressingly little clarification of value-for-money. Hourly billings for lawyers, psychiatrists, psychologists, interpreters, but no indication of how those professionals had been selected, whether they were qualified, or whether the cost was justified.

Child welfare services are not underfunded. But where does all that money go? And who's keeping track?

Nobody.

The government covers 100 per cent of costs because the one non-negotiable rule is that no child must wait for services because of funding constraints. Yet there's no explanation as to why costs doubled between 1999 to 2005, while the caseload increased only about 40 per cent. Agencies got a lot more money basically because they asked for it.

Nobody seems to have wondered why foster-care per diems — regular care, nothing specialized — ranged from $41 per day for a CAS-placed child to $449 per day for care arranged through subcontracted placement agencies.

Nobody ensured that all children's homes and foster-care operators had documents supporting the issuance of a licence.

Why? Short answer: Because nobody's been minding the minders.

Anonymous said...

CAS SCANDAL -- MONEY FOR KIDS WASTED ON PRICEY PR
http://www.ontariondp.com/news/article_741.php

SOURCE: NDP WEBSITE

Fri, 1 Dec 2006

QUEEN'S PARK - Today, the day after stunning revelations about massive misspending by Ontario children’s aid society executives, NDP Critic for Children and Youth Services Andrea Horwath wants to know if the McGuinty Liberals approve of the latest round of waste – public money wasted on a pricey public relations firm.

CBC Radio reports the Ontario Association of Children Aids Societies (OACAS) has hired a public relations firm to respond to the Auditor General’s damaging report of misspent public money.

“Dalton McGuinty has a responsibility to make sure public money earmarked for vulnerable kids is spent on vulnerable kids – not on $50,000 SUVs, exotic vacations and now, we learn, high-priced PR firms,” Horwath said.

“I call on the premier to tell Ontarians if he supports children’s aid executives wasting public money on PR and damage control. If the answer is no, the premier needs to explain what exactly he’s going to do about it,” Horwath said.

On Thursday, media reports revealed stunning evidence of improper spending at four of Ontario’s biggest Children's Aid Societies - Toronto, York, Peel and Thunder Bay - where public money was spend on luxury cars, personal trainers, expensive restaurant meals and exotic trips instead of helping at-risk children.

Front-line workers and foster parents are shocked to hear this money is being spent on PR instead of helping them in their daily work of protecting children at risk.

“Hiring a public relations firm to do damage control is indicative of a McGuinty government that is more interested in media spin than protecting our most vulnerable children. This is reckless, wasteful spending of Ontario’s public money that should be going to protecting our at-risk children,” said Horwath.

“This is adding insult to injury to vulnerable children and families who have been left languishing. This is about the accountability of a premier and a minister and the failure of the McGuinty Liberals to protect vulnerable children,” said Horwath.

Anonymous said...

Another fantastic article by the esteemed Christie Blatchford, by far one of the best journalists in Canada. It is well done as usual.

CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETIES

Kids always come first? Not likely
Accountability, in all its trying forms -- now that's a lesson child-welfare agencies need to learn

by CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
Globe and Mail Newspaper
09/12/06


A wonderful Toronto cop I know sent me a note a couple of days ago; he was one of the officers involved in the Jordan Heikamp investigation, Jordan being the baby who quietly starved to death on July 23, 1997, while under the ostensible protection of the Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto.

"I see by the news," he wrote of the provincial Auditor-General's recent first-ever report on the performance of children's aid societies, "that the average response time is 21 days to a child at risk.

"Twenty-one days? Funny, that's exactly how long it took for Jordan to die."

Actually, it took him 25 days, the time he spent at a native women's shelter called Anduhyan, which was used as a collateral resource for the CCAS and where none of the half-dozen female staff noticed a thing awry. The CCAS worker herself saw baby Jordan, identified as being at risk from his then-homeless teen mother, only once in all that time.

He died early on the morning of his 36th day on Earth, a skeletal ruin of a child. The officer's rage was palpable. Mine is, too. So is it for a lot of us who, over the past decade, have written about children who died lonely and frightened while in the charge of one or another of this country's children's aid societies and about the paid professionals who failed them.

For the record, what Jim McCarter, the Ontario Auditor-General, was doing was conducting a "value-for-money" review of four agencies. Given his mandate, what Mr. McCarter found was a catalogue of sloppy spending practices, inadequate documentation for bills and contracts, and at least one example of a dishy deal or two with senior agency executives.

The agencies, and the organization that often speaks in unison with them, the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies, were quick to react, as well they might be, since they were given the report long before it was released publicly.

Carolyn Buck, the head of the Toronto CAS, was later flushed out as being the anonymous executive with the nice SUV that the A-G reported on. She was actually huffy about the A-G's criticism of car-detailing expenditures: It wasn't what it seems, she told the Toronto Star, the vehicle was being cleaned after caseworkers had used it to transport poor wee children who were sometimes sick to their tummies.

Well, you know what, Buckeroo? Perhaps if you and yours had submitted proper documentation, the way the rest of us do, that nasty misapprehension could have been avoided.

Ms. Buck wouldn't confirm whether she was also the executive with the $4,600 a year gym-and-personal-trainer package, in addition to her $158,000 salary, but she was sufficiently defensive about it that a betting woman might think she is.

Releasing that kind of detail, she snipped, "is beyond realistic. I'd like the public to understand that we pay very careful attention to how we spend our money here. We put the needs of children first all the time."

Not bloody so: That was the whole point of Mr. McCarter's findings, in fact. The agencies stand accused of paying scant attention to how they spend public money and furthermore, Mr. McCarter said, they are doing a rather lousy job of protecting children -- and he didn't even mention the dead.

Same story with the Peel CAS, revealed as the one criticized by the A-G for what the auditor called "questionable" trips to the Caribbean to repatriate children with their biological families. Why, those inclusive packages were the cheapest available, executive director Paul Zarnke sniffed this week; the workers spent a few days there to make sure the child was safe. This information wasn't in the books that the auditor saw, and Mr. Zarnke pledged to improve the paperwork but was unrepentant about the cost or the decision-making.

Children's aid societies, after all, in their formal response to Mr. McCarter's recommendations, agreed that "original receipts" might be useful things to submit with expenses -- this, they had to be told?

But the people who manage social workers and run these agencies have been like this forever -- smug, sanctimonious and impervious to criticism. For years, they have explained their various failures -- and these failures, remember, involve dead children -- by citing overwork, understaffing, underfunding, and, during the years of the Mike Harris Conservatives in Ontario, even politics.

This, it turns out, was the finest service Mr. McCarter's audit provided; he exposes this as a lie. Child-welfare agencies' budgets have more than doubled since 1998-99, he said, but caseloads have increased by only 40 per cent -- so basically, and these are my words, the agencies are doing less with more.

Some real-life examples?

Mr. McCarter found that in a third of cases where a child should have been seen within 12 hours or seven days -- this because the child was deemed to be in danger -- visits were late by an average of 21 days (thus, the figure my policeman pal cited); some plans of service were 300 days late; in one case, a visit was never made because it took the caseworker 19 days to call and the family had moved; in another, a child was finally seen only after his aunt and school principal called the agency again, by which time he'd been beaten by his mother.

Oh, well.

Every time a child dies in this country while "receiving services," as the CAS lingo has it, the story unfolds in a variant of the same way. There is, first, either a refusal to comment (citing privacy regulations); there is much head-shaking about the dangers of "finger-pointing" and "the blame game" and much pissing and moaning about overwork; there is evasion, public-relations spinning and protestations that change already has occurred, or soon will.

Enough.

I think a good start -- learning the lessons of accountability in all its trying forms -- might be to round up the social worker, the supervisor and the executive director who took so long to see that little boy that his principal and aunt had to call the society again. I think they should all have to see the boy, and explain to him why it is that, in the absence of any action on their part, his mother had the chance to beat him.

I don't know which agency it is, but I do know of a nice SUV they could use, so that they could go together to the boy's home, in some comfort. Oh, and keep the gas receipt.

cblatchford@globeandmail.ca

Anonymous said...

The failure of the Liberal government and all other people refusing Ombudsman oversight is the most disgusting display in politics, in history.

Even after the audit they still refuse to have the one man that could fix the CAS in there. The Ontario Ombudsman.

They need to be kicked out of office.

Anonymous said...

This is a website about incredible CAS abuse, the Canadian website was forced to shut down as the strong armed Mafia like CAS made it shut down. It is a must read for the terrors that they are inflicting on people.

It is hosted in another country as the bullies at CAS did not want it to exist.


http://cas911.ifrance.com/

Anonymous said...

Huge thanks to the media for listening, those who have been in the clutches of CAS need to be heard. To the media that has been writing about this - good for you!

Please do not stop either.

Anonymous said...

If the CAS is above board then why not Ombudsman oversight? Shouldn't the audit alone clue people in?

Amanda said...

Dear all,
Thank you for your kind words!

The one poster is right, Jeffrey doesn't have a grave. That was the very first thing I tried to find when I read about this story. That is the reason I wanted a memorial set up for him, if you visist it, I'm sure you will feel him (or something) there, I always do. In addition, it's a great park to take your children to play. In my mind, he will always be surrounded by laughing children and that's why I chose a park to put his memorial. I am SO happy to hear the park as well will be named after him; I had nothing to do with this and want to thank all who petitioned to have it changed!

The crisis nursery is well on it's way. Thanks for your help Anne, I will get in touch with the people you suggested.

Take care all,
Amanda

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday little angel.I hope you have a big piece of that chocolate cake.Lots of hugs and kisses.Love Anna

Anonymous said...

With respect to if the children received the quilts that Amanda made for them, there is no way to know. This is not being written to upset Amanda as her heartfelt attention to Jeffrey and his siblings is very commendable. It is rather, to say that the CCAS and all CAS agencies operate in secrecy and answer to no one.

Many others have sent things to CAS for years, including crucial medical information pertaining to those who were in CAS care - and it was not passed on at all.

Bill 88 needs to be passed, as CCAS does what it wants to. I hope that the children received the quilts, but CCAS may well say they did because they can.

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear that a crisis nursery is in progress, as many can remain with their families as opposed to foster stranger danger care, or the alleged forever safe, forever families that CAS arranges.

While not all are abusive, or have been the numbers are staggering.

Anonymous said...

In consideration of what happened to little Randal Dooley who was beaten to death by his step-mother from hell, the article from Christie Blatchford is quite chilling.

The boy in the article was beaten by his mother, after his aunt and principal called CAS.

CAS should have intervened, but instead of shipping the child off to God knows who, they should have met with the aunt and principal to discuss if the boy could have been raised with his aunt, as opposed to his mother who was obviously unstable, and abusive.

They both overreact and underreact -they always have.

Anonymous said...

My Little angel,I will visit you soon at th park and bring you lots of balloons and flowers.I love you and wish you were here.I would do anything for you.WHY did this happen?I know you are ok with all your little friends FREE as a bird.I cant help but be selfish and want you here with me.Hugs and kisses.

Carilynn said...

Amanda,

Will you need volunteers for your Crisis Nursery? I want to volunteer somewhere to help kids like Jeffrey and that sounds like it would be the place.

Anonymous said...

Hello, my heart is heavy laden with the sad story of Jeffrey. My granddaughter Sherry was also in foster care at the time of her death. Sherry died such a tragic death in the hands of her foster dad. Many, many nights and days pass and I think about Sherry every minute of the day. I miss her so. I cry for her everyday. I wish better for children who are still in care across the country, because today over six years after Sherry's death I have not seen one bit of change in a system where my granddaughter was to be protected. Everyday, I hear of possible changes, there was a $400 million budget brought to MCFD 2 years ago, and they lavished their offices and built new buildings, but do u think there was anything implemented for the children who still suffer with neglect in the hands of their foster parent. Social worker's only hear what they want to hear. I wouldn't doubt if they got a raise in a job that is not very proven safe yet. There are so many involved with what happened to Sherry but yet none of the parties will answer my calls nor my emails. I demanded change, My granddaughter Sherry was not a poster child of neglect but a child of change, there were 19 recommendations for the child welfare system, and not one of them has been implemented as of yet, and the Inquest took place 3 years ago. The ministry don't care about children in care, they care about their check that is going home. I am disgusted with all that they get away with. My lil Sherry would have celebrated her 8th birthday just last month and what a heart full of ache it was for me. The woman they called the watchdog would nor take my phone call to her. No one will talk to me. I demand change. My heart goes out to Jeffrey's mom, may we all find peace and still have the strength to pull forward what the Government is not doing for innocent battered children.