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Red Lake family part of provincewide class action

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Warner Bloomfield

Staff Reporter

Lack of funding support forces parents to relinquish custody of special needs

children

When Ann Marlowe of Red Lake decided to send her eight-year-old daughter

to a specialized foster placement under a group home in Manitoba two years ago,

she never imagined it could lead to a struggle over legal custody.

Now, Ann and her husband Mark face the prospect of losing custody of their

daughter, as they work to find the financial support to provide the care the

autistic child requires.

The Marlowes are one example of several families who are part of a $500 million

class action lawsuit filed against the Ontario government, last week.

That suit, initiated by Anne Larcade and her son andre, claims the

government failed to live up to its legal responsibility to support the families

of special needs children, when it stopped funding Special Needs Agreements in

1997. In many cases, that decision has forced parents to relinquish custody of

their children in order to obtain the funding needed to provide essential care.

Provincial legislation passed in 1984 obliges the government to fund the needs

of disabled children by these Special Needs Agreements.

" These families have been deprived of services and programs that were developed

for the essential purpose of enabling these most vulnerable members of our

society to have their basic needs met while keeping their families together and

involved as much as possible, " commented a lawyer from one of the firms on the

case.

Lawsuit in two parts

The lawsuit involves two classes. In the first are families, who did not receive

assistance through Special Needs Agreements between their inception in 1984 and

1997.

The suit argues the Ontario government failed to implement a clear, mandated

program for funding the services of severely disabled children and approached it

on an ad hoc basis.

The second class of the suit involves families who could not access the

agreements after 1997. Changes in the funding formula for social programs meant

families were supposed to find support with the local community service

providers.

However, a lack of funding to this sector was not fixed, leaving few options.

The local Children's Aid Societies (CAS) stepped in and as long as the child

became a Crown ward, then CAS could access funding.

Crown wardship requires a court order stating the parent was abusive or

negligent in providing their children with necessary care.

It is estimated that more than 2,000 families have been affected. Among those

families are the Marlowes of Red Lake, confronted by the possibility of giving

up legal custody of their daughter .

The child was sent to a placement in Manitoba through a Special Needs Agreement

with Kenora- Child and Family Services.

It was perhaps the most difficult decision Ann has ever had to make.

" I think I cried every single day for six months until she left. As exhausted as

I was, it was really hard knowing I would be away from her, " the mother said in

an interview with The Dryden Observer last week.

Unfortunately, their daughter required around the clock care and often displayed

behaviour they could not control. Schools also had difficulties dealing with

and calls to pick up their daughter were not uncommon in the Marlowe

home.

The Marlowes are now struggling to convince the Ministry of Community and Social

Services to pay for to stay in the group home, without having to give up

custody. At present, the only way it will agree to do so is if she becomes a

ward of the Crown.

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