Note to readers: This story contains details about the abuse and deaths of children.
B.C.’s Conservative critic for children and family development is demanding answers from the province after the death of an Indigenous teenager in care in Port Alberni.
Family of Chantelle Williams, 18, say the teen died on Jan. 28 after being found unresponsive only a few blocks from the group home where she was living, CBC News reported.
Her family members told CBC they believe she froze to death but they’ve been told the teenager died of natural causes.
Williams was living in a group home run by Inside Out Care Corporation and was in the care of Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services, an agency of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, according to CBC.
B.C. Emergency Health Services confirmed it responded to a call for a person in medical distress in the 4900-block of Ian Avenue in Port Alberni at 5:06 a.m. on Jan. 28. Two ambulances and paramedics arrived three minutes later and provided emergency medical treatment to a patient, who was taken to hospital in critical condition, BCEHS spokesperson Bowen Osoko said in a statement.
Family members could not be immediately reached.
Usma has previously come under scrutiny following the deaths of 19-month-old Sherry Charlie in 2002 and six-year-old Dontay Lucas in 2018.
Sherry was apprehended by the child protection agency and placed in the home of her aunt where she was beaten to death less than a month later.
The aunt’s common-law partner confessed that when Sherry wouldn’t stop crying, he banged her head on the floor several times and stepped on her stomach.
Ryan Dexter George pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2004 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Dontay, a cousin of Sherry, died of blunt force trauma to the brain after being transitioned by Usma back into the care of his mother, who, with her partner, abused Dontay, biting and hitting him and making him hang by his knees from the top of a door. They deprived him of sleep, food and water.
Rykel Charleson and Mitchell Frank pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Amelia Boultbee, Conservative critic for children and family development, said the deaths of children and youth in care is a systemic issue and she wants to know what the provincial government will do to address it.
She said she wants to know if there will be an investigation into the organization running Williams’ group home and any repercussions.
“I think it’s a very fair question, what’s going to happen with the contract and the people who were responsible at Inside Out Care Corporation?” she said.
Judith Sayers, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council president who speaks for Usma, said the agency is still awaiting a coroner’s report that will explain the cause of death. Investigations are already being undertaken and Usma is co-operating, she said in an email.
Jodie Wickens, minister of children and family development, said she can’t comment on Williams’ death. “What I can say is that when a child or youth dies in care my expectation as the minister and as a mother is that we get to the truth regarding the ministry’s or [Indigenous Child and Family Service Agencies’] involvement to examine practice and learn from the circumstances,” she said.
A review is always undertaken when a child or youth dies in care and if the review identifies areas that need improvement, the ministry develops an action plan, she said.
The ministry always cooperates with any investigation launched by the B.C. Coroners Service, police or the representative for children and youth, Wickens said. “We know we need to do everything possible to make sure kids are safe and families are connected with the supports they need.”
Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s representative for children and youth, said in a statement her office must wait one year before beginning an investigation into Williams’ death to allow the B.C. Coroners Service and the Ministry of Children and Family Development to complete reviews.
Charlesworth said despite that limitation, her office has undertaken an initial review and gathered documentation to learn more about the circumstances of the teen’s death. She plans to visit Port Alberni service providers in April, including the tribal council, Usma and police, health and community care services to learn more about challenges facing the community.
The office is set to begin a comprehensive review of government-funded group homes to illuminate gaps in practice and quality of care and determine how to best ensure youth living in these environments are safe.
Charlesworth said while it is easy to blame one person or one agency, it is more often “a complex interplay of missed opportunities and incomplete or uncoordinated systemic responses that lead to tragedy.
She noted Williams’ community continues to feel the trauma of residential schools and said that trauma continues to affect the child welfare system.
