; A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wedcnes day, September 3, 1997 Probe sought into native foster care abuse claims By CRIS LEYKAUF ‘| NATIVE CHILDREN are ‘being abused in Terrace while ‘in foster care, says Bill ‘Christiansen, a former native ‘and youth family advocate. * Christiansen wants a full -inquiry into the workings of ithe local office © of- ‘the ‘Ministry of Children and “Families. s He claims he knows of ‘eight native children: being rabused or who’ve recently ‘been abused while in foster thomes. * Christiansen ‘has. asked "Premier Glen Clark and (he ‘Children’s Commission — a ;tribunal which can” conducl ‘independent reviews — 0 look ‘into his allegations. He hasn't ‘received a response yet. ; In the meantime Lori "Hansen, acting regional direc- ‘tor for the children’ and ‘families ministry, says ‘she'll ‘be looking into five cases : Christiansen brought to’ her “atlention. « “Any allegation of child ‘abuse is serious,’ she says. : About two thirds of child- ‘ren in foster care in Terrace ‘are native. Across the pro- ‘vince, about 30 per ‘cent of ‘ foster children are native. : Christiansen says he quit ‘his job as advocate with the ‘ children and families ministry vin March, after working in that position for a year and a half. He said he didn’t feel he had cnough training to deal with the issues of abuse being brought to him. One of the worst cases ‘Christiansen refers to is. that of a five-year-old boy who he believes’ was sexually, physi- cally and emotionally abused, ~"That boy: then-in turn abused -- his thrée-year-old sister and is now talking. of . killing himself. “The ministry placed the blame on the natural parent. We know. for a fact this hap- pened in a foster home,” says ’ Christiansen. Neither Christiansen nor the child’s mother have any records from a doctor sup- porting their allegations. But Christiansen says the five- year-old boy and other child- Ten. were removed from the "foster home after the natural parent complained, and the home was then shut down. “The ministry wouldn’t say what happened in there,” he says, He adds that the boy’s mother hasn’t been allowed to see her child’s file either. - Hansen says she isn’t aware of the details of this case. But she adds that any parent can access a child’s file through the Freedom of Information ack. Christiansen has other cases he wants investigated. He talks about children who were sexually assaulted by a teenaye son of a foster parent and a newborn receiving inadequate care. When Christiansen present- ed these cases as a native and youth family advocate to the Ministry for Children and Families, -he said staff denied the events happened, or blamed the natural parents. Christiansen also says the children and families ministry is taking children away from aboriginal families when it shouldn't. And he accuses the _ ministry of not giving the care of children back to native par- ents, even when parents have taken steps to improve par- enting skills or life situations. The problem isn’t with the policies. of the ministry. Those are good, he says. It’s the individuals in the Terrace office that he questions. “We need compassionate people,” he says. “(Native) families are being threatened and intimidated.” And he’s seen evidence of discriminatory and racist behaviour, he says. “Some comments made by individual social workers were outright racist,” he says. Hansen says she doesn’t think discrimination is a pro- blem within the local level of Police search for man zabaae ahae ‘ POLICE ARE looking for a potentially dan- « gerous, mentally unstable man in connection to ; the killing of Daniel Fagan last month. : The suspect, a schizophrenic, is 49-year-old - * Wilfred James Kilgren of Rosedale, B.C. + Terrace RCMP found the vehicle Kilgren is : believed to have been driving August 18, aban- : doned on a steep trail running off Highway 16, + 2 km east of Gitseguela. + Although police say no conclusions have ‘been drawn from their examinations of the * vehicle, it apparently fits the description of the + suspect vehicle in the Fagan killing. ‘Polite ‘investigation’ has’ concluded that - - + Kilpren left his Rosedale-home in‘early August, 2 intending ‘to--visit- family -in Kelowna’ and eal « Terrace. " While those visits never occurred, RCMP linked to Fagan killing | the ministry. “Sometimes, and it’s unfor- tunale, children just can’t be safely returned. If a child isn’t retumed (to the natural par- ents), there’s a very good rea- ° son,” says Hansen. In order for a child to be returned to his or her natural parents, the ministry social workers do.a risk assessment. For example, if alcoholism is a problem for the parent, then the parent must agrec to some type of treatment, says Hansen. The social worker and par- ent might agree to a 30-day plan. The parent goes to four Alcoholics Anonymous meet- ings, and no reports come in saying the child has been left unattended. Hansen says the goal of social workers is to keep children safe. ““They have no desire to keep children in care.” Christiansen thinks one way the ministry could keep child- ren safe is if it had a better screening process for foster parents. « Exhaust Brakes ¢ Front End Work . 635-7 707— "1-800-561-7707 INUTE * JJUFFLER s BRAKE UNDER CAR SPECIALISTS « Shocks ¢ Wheel Alignment ¢ Tires & Balancing ¢ Oil Change & Filter (xitimat Location Onty) Now Available your Minute Muffler Credit Card! No Payments For 6 Months. No Interest OAC Limited Time Offer. el & - ites Os 4700 Nalabila Blvd. -” Kitimat; B.C." » 4526 Greig Ave:, Terrace; BC, - Sept. 17 Sept, 24 . Oct Helping reduce your grocery bill these community minded sponsors want to help stretch your food $$ this fall. wr if #5 Be Oct 22 ‘ have confirmed thal Kilgren’s car was in the "Terrace area Aug. 13 and 14. Police say this man is considered armed and dangerous, posst- , bly in possession of pepper spray and firearms. ‘ Under no circumstances should he be ‘ * approached by the public. « RCMP are asking people to call the Terrace * detachment immediately if they see Kilgren. * He is described as a Caucasian male, 175 cm aCh 9”) tall and 79 kg (175lbs), with short . brown hair and hazel eyes. He may be clean- i ‘FROM FRONT a a ee es * ; Culp says demonstration projects on ‘things like how to help prevent erosion and ‘re-work dry channels to make them suitable «for spawning beds are in the works, : Some of the work has been put off until next year because pink salmon have