Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to a letter by David Forbes in your Nov. 29 issue. In his letter, Mr. Forbes makes some very misleading statements which I’d like to address.
First of all, the death of any child is a terrible tragedy. As a mother of five children and grandmother of eight, my heart breaks every time I hear about the death of a vulnerable child.
That is why the safety and well-being of children is my top priority not only as the Minister of Social Services, but also as a parent and grandparent.
Mr. Forbes attempts to tie these tragedies to a reduction in Ministry staff and this is misleading.
Since 2007, we have actually hired 90 more front line child protection workers to help ensure that children are safe.
The Ministry of Social Services 2012-13 Budget showed a reduction of 100 positions across the Ministry, but none of these positions were child protection workers.
In fact, we were only able to hire 90 more child protection workers by working more efficiently and reducing positions that weren’t directly involved with protecting children.
When a tragic incident occurs to a child while in care of the Ministry, a thorough review of the circumstances is completed to examine where improvements to the system may be required.
These reviews are also provided to the Advocate for Children and Youth for his independent consideration and possible review.
We are also working very hard in partnership with other Ministries across government to make life better for children and families.
This partnership, called the Child and Family Agenda, is addressing challenges like FASD, mental health, substance abuse, crime and low education levels.
There is more work to be done, but we are moving in the right direction. My government will continue to invest in this province’s most valuable, yet vulnerable resource – its children.
June Draude
Minister of Social Services, Government of Saskatchewan
June Draude
