Group home caregivers, company questioned over conduct in report
A caregiver who kept a weapon in a group home, workers with violent criminal histories, a child forced to sleep outside on a balcony — all of these concerns were uncovered during a probe into a company that housed children in B.C. government care for 20 years.
Among the vulnerable charges of A Community Vision was Alex Gervais, who lived in the company’s care for seven years before its contracts with the province were terminated. Gervais was 18 when he died in a fall from an Abbotsford hotel window in September, several weeks after his group home was closed.
The Ministry of Children and Family Development’s probe into 10 ACV group homes began in January in response to calls alleging everything from drug use by caregivers to abusive language and unsanitary conditions. A redacted report on the investigation was released this week.
Two ACV caregivers were facing outstanding criminal charges, according to the report, and a number of other workers had histories of domestic violence, weapons charges, fraud, theft, assault and drug possession. By the time the probe wrapped up in February, a total of nine caregivers had been suspended from their duties. Although a number of allegations against ACV and its caregivers could not be substantiated, the investigation uncovered a long list of issues, including:
• A caregiver in Mission who kept a weapon in the house.
• Raccoons in the attic, a leaky ceiling and inadequate, unhealthy food at a Coquitlam home.
• Domestic violence between a caregiver and his or her partner in Surrey.
• A youth locked out of a group home in Maple Ridge and made to sleep outside.
• A caregiver smoking unidentified substances with a young person in a Surrey home.
• False and incomplete record keeping.
• Caregivers calling their young charges derogatory names.
These types of complaints appear to be nothing new for ACV, according to the report. A review of concerns dating from 2008 to 2014 found several “ongoing themes” including caregivers using drugs, employing inappropriate physical discipline, viewing pornography and having sex in the group homes.
However, the company contends that many of those previous allegations were unsubstantiated. The province placed a moratorium on putting children in ACV homes in January, and the last government contracts with the care provider ended in July.
“These investigation documents … show why the ministry’s action to shut down ACV was completely justified,” ministry spokesman Bill Anderson wrote in an email.
He went on to say that a care plan was drawn up for each of the 34 children living in ACV homes, reviewed by both the provincial director of child welfare and the deputy director. None of those plans mentioned staying in hotels as an option. In December, the ministry brought in new policies for vetting contracted caregivers, including more robust, multi-jurisdictional criminal record checks.
ACV unsuccessfully requested a review of the government investigation in May, and warned that shuttering its group homes was an unnecessary risk.
It contends that the company followed all ministry protocols when screening caregivers, and that workers with criminal records were given clearance letters from the Ministry of Justice stating that their convictions did not indicate a risk to children. Bryan Baynham, a lawyer representing the company, said it only makes sense to employ adults with troubled pasts to deal with troubled children.
“An individual who has made a mistake and has been charged and fully rehabilitated is in a better position to understand and relate to a child facing similar challenges.”