Child welfare old problem

Social workers sent warning to Manitoba years ago

WINNIPEG — The union for Manitoba’s social workers says the government was warned long ago that child welfare in the province was so overwhelmed that children were in danger.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees Union on Friday released three letters it wrote to the government between 2002 and 2005. They warned of skyrocketing caseloads and stressed-out workers at Winnipeg Child and Family Services.

Social workers have faced criticism at a public inquiry into the 2005 death of Phoenix Sinclair, who was in and out of foster care and fell through the cracks of child welfare.

“We really feel that the public — everyone actually — is drawing conclusions about the work these people did,” said Janet Kehler, a union staff representative. “To really understand the work they did — or didn’t do as the case may be — you really need the context that they were doing the work in.”

One letter, written by the union to then-family servi- ces minister Drew Caldwell in December 2002, warned that the number of children in care in Winnipeg had risen sharply and many front line workers were quitting because they were so overwhelmed.

Another letter, written in 2005 to then-minister Christine Melnick, warned that the government’s move to transfer cases to aboriginalrun agencies was creating chaos.

The union’s decision to release the letters followed weeks of inquiry testimony that has revealed social workers at the Winnipeg agency failed to keep track of Phoenix for months at a time and failed to provide proper support for her troubled parents.