Grieving mom says no one was listening
Kaleab Schmidt and his younger sisters left behind a tragic life in Ethiopia when, in 2011, they were adopted by Balgonie-area couple Dean Schmidt and Sandra Barker-schmidt.
But life in Canada came with its own problems. An inquest has heard Kaleab experienced bullying and racism at school — something that ultimately contributed to his April 30, 2018, suicide at the age of 13.
The inquest into the death — being held this week in Regina — has heard details of the Schmidts’ attempts to get help and support for their son and themselves, including reaching out to Social Services, doctors, schools, police and Mobile Crisis. The inquest has heard Kaleab’s mom Sandra often found herself running between the various services — services that ultimately failed to help.
“We were reaching out and nobody was listening,” Sandra said outside the inquest. “I was screaming for help.”
Sandra said she and Dean were approached a year ago by the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, stating it wished to investigate the death.
“I thought, yes, we need to do this for justice for Kaleab,” she said.
The parents said they hope the inquest shines a light on racism and the fact it is still happening — including against their other kids, one of whom reports hearing the N-word frequently.
“There needs to be zero tolerance and there needs to be consequences in schools everywhere,” Sandra said.
The family has tried to raise awareness about the issue. Sandra said she previously wrote a Facebook post urging parents to talk to their kids about racism, resulting in more than 2,400 shares. And on the anniversary of Kaleab’s death, his sister asked people to consider wearing black to school in honour of Kaleab.
Both had positive feedback but also received racist and hateful comments. The Schmidts said there were no consequences for perpetrators — just as they feel was the case when Kaleab was alive.
“We thought we were bringing Kaleab to Canada to a better life,” Sandra said.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” Dean said. “He had the potential to go pro, and everybody knows that. He was that good of an athlete. I’m still very proud of him.”
The Schmidts have sat through several gruelling days of testimony which, on Thursday, included people working with Social Services and Mobile Crisis Services at the time. While the ministry has reportedly made a number of changes in the wake of Kaleab’s death, a former social worker with Mobile Crisis said the situation at her then-organization is in dire need of fixing.
Ministry official Mitchell Tremblay said a review was done following the death, resulting in several recommendations — many of which have been implemented. He spoke about a total of 18 added staff in the southern region as well as improved staff training intended to help prevent similar tragedies. He added there is better oversight to ensure a timely response to files; a more flexible means of dealing with families in crisis; and a provincial call centre to take incoming calls for help.
While he said social workers will work overtime as needed, after-hours calls go to Mobile Crisis.
Shayla Leier, formerly with Mobile Crisis, said the organization is currently ill-equipped to cope, with too few staff and inadequate training and support.
She added many frontline workers are “worn out (and) not being debriefed properly” after difficult files.
The Schmidts hope the inquest will help to fix some of the problems — whether bullying or help available to families — to prevent more tragedies like Kaleab’s.
“His name is going to stand for something that happened that he will never be forgotten by his friends,” Dean said. “And he’s going to stand for change.”
For anyone having thoughts of suicide, help is available 24/7 at Crisis Services Canada — Suicide Prevention and Support, 1-833456-4566.