Caseloads must be addressed to improve Children's Services
EDMONTON – AUPE President Guy Smith responded to the results of a public fatality inquiry on the death of Samantha Martin, which were reported today by media:
“Every time a child dies in the care of the province, it is a tragedy that demands that we not only reflect on what went wrong, but take active steps to ensure such a tragedy never happens again,” said Smith.
“Not having seen the full report, I cannot speak to the specific shortcomings in care identified in media reports. What I can say is that unless the government addresses Judge Carminati’s recommendation to ensure caseloads are reasonable, her other recommendations will be difficult to implement,” Smith said.
“Since the 1990s, we have raised the issue of caseloads over and over again with the government, year after year. High caseloads affect our members’ ability to provide the level of attention that children in care require. I’m grateful Judge Carminati flagged caseloads as a problem, but I’m saddened that it took a fatality inquiry to give the issue the attention it deserves.”
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For more information, contact:
Guy Smith, President, AUPE – 780-265-2294 (cell)
Mark Wells, Senior Communications Advisor, AUPE – 780-904-0688 (cell)