Parents’ cognitive challenges need support
Child advocate urges more frequent assessment to lessen risk to children
Alberta’s child advocate is recommending child- intervention workers improve support for parents with cognitive challenges, after investigating the death of a baby girl who was sleeping on her father’s chest.
Child and youth advocate Del Graff’s 20- page report into the sixweekold’s death also recommends Alberta Human Services ensure a child’s environment is continually reassessed to minimize risk and ensure needs are met.
The family of the girl, a twin given the pseudonym Nicole in the report, was receiving child-intervention services at the time of her death.
The infant fell asleep on her father’s chest in 2013 after being discharged from the hospital, where she was treated for diarrhea earlier in the day. Her father awoke the next morning to discover she wasn’t breathing. She had a small amount of blood on her mouth and around her nose.
She was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The chief medical examiner’s office classified her death as “undetermined,” the report says. No further explanation of her death is given.
Both of Nicole’s parents were permanent wards in other provinces who entered into a relationship after moving to Alberta. Her mother, whom the report calls Vivian, was diagnosed with depression and post traumatic stress disorder. The girl’s father, referred to as Owen, had several personality disorders and cognitive disabilities.
Vivian had one other child from a previous relationship. The family became involved with child- intervention services after moving to Alberta because of concerns for the child’s care. Caseworkers gave the family an application to find subsidized housing and referred Owen to a program for young fathers.
Nicole and her twin were born four weeks early and suffered from respiratory problems. The report says their mother showed a “lack of attachment” to her twins. Owen became a single parent “but demonstrated limited understanding about what was required to meet their needs.”
He struggled to retain information. The family had no permanent housing, bouncing from a motel to transitional housing, to a friend’s home.
He occasionally failed to follow safe sleep practices despite repeated reminders.
After Nicole’s death, Owen made arrangements for family to care for his other child.
Balancing a parent’s ability to learn and attempts to provide better care while ensuring children are safe is a “complex task” for child- intervention workers, Graff says in his recommendations.
“A longer- term strategy might have afforded Owen time to integrate the information being taught at a pace that better suited his abilities,” Graff’s report says.
Although Owen received daily support, his lack of progress didn’t cue a reassessment of strategies by child- intervention workers. “Instead, his lack of follow through was seen ... as non- compliance rather than a capacity or learning issue,” the report concludes.
Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir called the death “tragic.”
He said Wednesday his ministry has accepted all outstanding recommendations.