YOUNGSON: Response to Dorey's article

Kim Moar, Barry Dorey, Media, CS/CA, Minister of Community Services David Morse: (see attachment in 2 formats)

RE: Article published Saturday, June 18th, 2005 in the Daily News: Children's Aid Fights Back with PR Push ( Kim Moar) ; and article published June 17th, 2005 in the Halifax Herald, VandenElsen Supporters Pose Questions at Aid Society Meeting (Barry Dorey)

KIM MOAR :

What is with this "crashed the annual general meeting"? In an attempt to sensationalize this story, you have misrepresented what happened at the annual meeting of the Halifax CAS on Thursday, June 16, 2005. This meeting was open to the public and as such anyone was able to attend.

And as for "demanding answers", we were asking questions. When someone from the audience challenged our right to do so, Mr. John Rowan, the Executive Director of the Halifax Children's Aid Society, confirmed that this was a public meeting and that we did have a right to ask questions. To which I thanked him for his reply.

BARRY DOREY:

You have wrongly lead the public to believe that we had "peppered the board members with questions" about the VandenElsen / Fink case. In truth we did not ask ANY QUESTIONS pertaining to this case.

You ascertained that Evangiline Godron was a supporter of Carline VandeElsen. You then made assumptions of the other women present. When I came over to speak to you, after your talk with Evangiline, you did not ask if I was a supporter of Carline's and you did not even speak to the third woman.

I did tell you that I was university educated with 3 degrees and that I had been researching concerns about Children's Services/Aid (CS/CA) for 2 1/2 years and that I was quite frustrated that noone from the media ever wants to talk to me. I had suggested contacting you and you immediately began giving me excuses, to which I stopped you and told you I had heard all the lies and all the excuses already.

THE MEDIA:

What happened to fair and even coverage by the media?

I think you in the media need to pay close attention to the information that is being given you by CS/CA. They are better than politicians in avoiding questions.

For example, when Evangiline asked for details about what the Halifax Children's Aid Society did under specific circumstances, Mr. Rowan began spouting off that the CFS Act says this, that, and the other thing. As he began his rambling, I interjected and told him, that we were well aware of what the act says, and I informed him that that was not the question. That the question asked was what did the Society do not what the act said..

Do you not understand. This is one of our major concerns, the Act says a lot of wonderful thing BUT very little of the act is followed by the court, CA/CS or the Minister of Community Services.

As I recently said to one of my professors: " The act is full of 'the Court shall", ' CS/CA shall", and 'the Minister shall BUT I see very little 'shalling' going on!"

For an explanation of the legal importance of the worh "shall" in the CFS Act, see what Rollie Thompson told us about its significance more than a year ago in the attached document under section 88.

It does not matter how wonderful the Act sounds if the government and the courts are disregarding the law and not following it! ! ! !

Children's Services / Children's Aid :

"All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as self evident" Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Have you entered into the second stage ? If so, I welcome it because this means that the third stage is on the way!

Mr Morse:

I am still waiting for a reply to the e-mail I sent you 2 weeks ago. You assured me in writing that you would inform me in time to apply for the committee:

June 10, 2005

Dear David Morse, Minister of Community Services:

Re: Membership in the Minister's Advisory Committee as per Section 88 of the
Children and Family Services Act.

I wrote you May 11, 2004 and August 16, 2004, and you replied June 28, 2005 and September 21, 2004, respectively. In your June letter you informed me, " Given your expressed interest, I would be pleased to inform you at the appropriate point in time when membership selection is being considered."

I am patiently waiting to be contacted so I can apply for membership to this committee.

I phoned your office in December, 2004 and January, 2005 requesting an appointment with you. In reply, Judith Ferguson, Assistant. Deputy Minister of Community Services, phoned me and we had a conversation on January 6th. In this conversation, she assured me at the beginning of the conversation, that if I was not satisfied with my conversation with her that a meeting could be arranged with you. By the end of the conversation, I assured her that I still wanted a meeting with you. At this point, she informed me that she would phone me back - I never heard from her again!

I am still requesting this meeting. You say you like meeting people. I assure you I am an interesting person to meet.

I am also formally notifying you that I expect, as promised, to be informed at the appropriate point in time when membership selection is being considered for the Minister's Advisory Committeeso so that I may apply for membership.

Considering I have been communicating with you since May 11. 2004, and I was promised a call back concerning a meeting with you (that I am still waiting for), as well as the fact that this committee is suppose to meet on an annual basis, I am expecting a speedy and positive reply to this letter.

Your sincerely.

Linda Youngson

c.c. Rick Howe, Marilyn Dey

Linda Youngson B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed.

Please see the attachments above, the articles below and the following blog site http://www.carlinevandenelsen.blogspot.com/ . Be sure to see both sets of comments. The first has 34 comments - the second 10 (thus far)
VandenElsen supporters pose questions at aid society meeting
Officials refuse to talk details

Friday, June 17, 2005 The Halifax Herald Limited

By BARRY DOREY / Staff Reporter

Some supporters of Carline VandenElsen tried to make things uncomfortable for those attending the annual general meeting of the Children's Aid Society of Halifax on Thursday night.

Friends of the woman who was convicted last month on several charges stemming from a custody dispute that turned into a standoff with police in May 2004 peppered board members with questions.

Evangeline Godron asked whether thorough investigations precede every case in which the society seizes a child, alluding to allegations that Ms. VandenElsen's child was taken unjustly.

"We follow the protocol in all cases," acting CEO John Rowan told her.

He said the province sets out clear rules and guidelines that must be followed.

The society held its 85th annual general meeting at a Halifax hotel just blocks from the Shirley Street home that was the scene of the three-day standoff.

Ms. VandenElsen and her husband, Larry Finck, were found guilty last month of obstruction, abducting their baby in contravention of a child custody order and other charges.

The standoff began in earnest when a shot was fired over police officers' heads from inside the house and neighbours were evacuated.

The society issued a news release in anticipation of questions about the case, which it did not mention by name.

"The Children's Aid Society of Halifax is unable to comment on the specifics regarding any family it works with," the release said. "We appreciate that this allows unfounded allegations to go unanswered."

Ms. Godron also requested a breakdown of how much money or work that legal firms have contributed to the society or its charitable foundation.

The annual report states the society spent $571,412 on legal fees in the last fiscal year, roughly half of the overall administrative budget.

She said she wanted answers about community services practices in general.

"There are thousands of comparable cases, the VandenElsen case is just the best-known," Ms. Godron said in an interview.

=-=-=-=

Children's Aid fights back with PR push
The Daily News (Halifax) Local News, Saturday, June 18, 2005, p. 3

Kim Moar

In the wake of a high-profile child-custody case, the province hopes to promote public awareness of what the Children's Aid Society is all about with a new brochure.

"If the public has a better understanding of what we do and why we do it, it makes our job that much easier," acting director of child welfare services Leonard Doiron said yesterday.

While unable to talk about Larry Finck and Carline VandenElsen specifically, Doiron said the publicity surrounding that case has raised the public's interest in Children's Aid.

"The public's perception, in all fairness, is probably poor in terms of what child-protection work does, because they rarely have an opportunity to hear the full story," Doiron said.

In May 2004, Finck and VandenElsen were involved in a 67-hour armed standoff on Shirley Street in Halifax that resulted in a shot being fired at police. Officers were attempting to serve the couple with a court order giving temporary custody of their five-month-old daughter to child-welfare workers.

In all, less than one per cent of the estimated 11,500 cases a year in Nova Scotia involve taking the child into care.

"Taking a child from the home, either temporarily or permanently, is unusual and only done with a child is in imminent danger of abuse or neglect," the brochure states.

During a 10-week trial into a number of firearms-related charges, Finck and VandenElsen repeatedly criticized Children's Aid and the way child-protection workers handled their case.

Confidentiality prevents the agency from responding to specific allegations.

On June 28 - coincidentally the same day the province will host a conference on child-protection issues - Finck and VandenElsen will be back in court for sentencing.

On Thursday, VandenElsen supporters crashed the annual general meeting of the Children's Aid Society in Halifax demanding answers about the agency.

"We want to make a full description of our services and our processes made available to the public so they can make up their own minds about how things are done," Doiron said.

In a concise format, the brochure explains the agency's services, families' rights and how to report suspected child abuse or neglect. The brochure is available online at www.gov.ns.ca/ coms/families/child_welfare.html.

kmoar@hfxnews.ca