More allegations have surfaced about the neglect of children in foster care.
Child care workers in Sturgeon Lake said a child was sexually assaulted while in the care of the province in 2010.
“Our First Nation has lost two young children who were in the care of the province within six months of each other. A third child was sexually assaulted by (another) child in care during the same interval,” Eleanor Brazeau, executive director of Sturgeon Lake’s Child and Family Services, said.
The allegations come a day after the Ministry of Social Services apologized following the 2010 death of 22-month-old Evander Lee Daniels, also from Sturgeon Lake.
The community’s child and family services organization said the system failed another child from Sturgeon Lake in 2010. The organization said it found out about the sexual assault in September, but the incident happened in 2010.
“It's going to be coming up and it's another tragedy for our community,” the organization’s board of director’s chair Shirley Bighead said.
The Ministry of Social Services wouldn’t confirm or deny that a child from the community was sexually assaulted. But, a spokesperson told CTV News, if a child was injured there would be a comprehensive review. Sturgeon Lake’s Child and Family Services would likely be involved.
“If you're not performing your job and if you're missing and making big mistakes, and children are dying in care, it just doesn’t add up,” Brazeu said. “Someone's got to be held accountable.”
A report released earlier this week revealed gaps between what social services says it will do and what actually happens.
The ministry said its policies weren't being followed in 2010 when Daniels ended up in an overcrowded foster home. That’s where he was burned and drowned in a bathtub after being left unattended by his foster mother. She was acquitted of a charge related to his death.
The ministry said it's added 93 new case workers since Daniel’s death and said fewer children are in need of foster care.
