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Alberta giving new powers for child advocate to probe deaths of children in care

May 30, 2017 | 3:41 PM

EDMONTON – Alberta is bringing in legislation to increase the powers of the child and youth advocate to investigate deaths of children in government care.

Bill 18 was introduced in the legislature today and will require the advocate to review every death of a child under 20 years old who was either in government care or who left the system within two years.

The advocate will also publicly report on every child death review and update a legislature committee twice a year.

Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee says the bill is an important first step to increasing the accountability and transparency of the child welfare system.

“When our society takes responsibility for the safety of a child by bringing them into care, it is up to us to ensure they have every opportunity for a happy childhood and a bright future,” Larivee said Thursday. “When heartbreaking tragedies happen, Albertans are right to expect their government will take a hard, honest look at the system and what may have gone wrong. If passed, this legislation would help us learn from these losses so we could quickly adapt and strengthen our supports, and do everything we could to prevent similar tragedies.”

The bill incorporates recent recommendations from an all-party committee following the death of a young girl named Serenity in 2014.

Serenity had been in government care when she died and showed signs of severe physical and sexual abuse it was later revealed the child and youth advocate had been denied critical information in her case.

(The Canadian Press)