Rainy River children's aid almost broke
October 20, 2009
Tanya Talaga
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU
Four crown wards with extreme medical needs in northern Ontario, including two boys being sent to Minnesota for care, cost the small children's aid society of Rainy River $1,300 a day, almost eight times more than what they get from the province to pay for the kids' bills.
Family and Children's Services for the District of Rainy River and Fort Frances say they will be broke by the end of February, their $450,000 line of credit exhausted, if a solution isn't found to ease their financial straits.
The society is one of 49 Ontario children's aid societies facing a $67 million shortfall.
Rainy River cares for 61 crown wards. This is the first time the service will have to dip into its line of credit to pay for government-mandated children's services, said agency board president Bob McGreevy.
"It is emotionally draining," McGreevy said in an interview. "People are torn between our duty to provide service and the fact that we are going to the bank and borrowing money, and, right now we aren't exactly sure how we will pay that back because there is no more money."
One child is a 15-year-old boy recently charged with a number of sexual assaults. The courts have ordered that he be treated at a juvenile facility, but the nearest, most suitable place is across the border in Minnesota – at a cost of $450 a day to the agency. The other boy being sent to Minnesota is a 13-year-old with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder. He resists authority and harms himself. His cost to the agency is $350 a day.
Last week, a girl, 13, with Down syndrome who harms herself came into the agency's care because her aunt could no longer afford to keep her or pay her health bills.
"This child's situation is particularly frustrating because she had to be taken into care without having been in need of protection," McGreevy said. "This is in direct contravention to the ministry's own current directive that no child should be taken into care because of that child's special needs and where there is no need for protection."
The fourth child has had breakdowns in two foster homes and is in specialized care at $250 daily.
Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten said the provincial regional office in Rainy River is working closely with the agency, examining ways to save or generate money.
Rainy River has a shortfall of $670,000 for the current fiscal year but has had a balanced budget for the previous three years, largely because it didn't have any children in treatment homes or facilities, which meant it received less government funding, said McGreevy.
Toronto Star