Rights commission wants database on foster parents

The Quebec Human Rights Commission is calling for the province to create a central database to keep track of foster parents.

The call follows an investigation into how allegations of sexual abuse at a Quebec foster home were handled by Batshaw Youth and Family Centres. The social services network places English-speaking children in foster care across the Greater Montreal area.

The commission's investigation was sparked by "Robert", a former foster child whose real identity is protected under the Youth Protection Act.

Robert, now 17, alleges his foster father sexually abused him, soon after he was placed in a home, north of Montreal, in the Laurentians.

Batshaw shut down the Laurentians foster home in 2006, after another child there reported abuse.

The foster father faced charges involving several alleged victims.

But the crown prosecutor stopped the legal proceedings.

"She told me there was conflicting testimony between a few of the children," Robert said. "She didn't think she had enough evidence, hard evidence to press for a guilty verdict."

No registry to track foster parents

A family friend of Robert - Jose Battista, a lawyer - filed the complaint, which opened the Quebec Human Rights Commission investigation. She said she was shocked by what the investigation revealed.

"Information has circulated that the foster mother has entered into a new foster family agreement in another region of Quebec," said the conclusion of the report.

"That's not possible to verify because there's no central information system concerning foster families in this province," it said.

Battista said the findings are disturbing. "This is a tragic story and I am convinced that it's not just these kids who have suffered," she said.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Health and Social Services said it is looking into a central database.

The CBC asked Batshaw spokesperson, Marion Leroux, if it notifies other agencies across the province when it shuts down a foster home. Leroux said "The protocol we must follow when we have terminated a contract with a foster family is to inform the Health and Social Services Agency of Montreal."

Batshaw said when it comes to finding out if people applying to be foster parents have ever been foster parents in other regions of Quebec, it relies on the applicants to be honest about that information.

Leroux said a province-wide registry would be helpful.

Commission conclusion brings comfort

Robert said he knows the Quebec Human Rights Commission cannot prove his story about sexual abuse at the hands of his former foster father

Still, the conclusion of its investigation brings him comfort.

"It's a big step," he said. "It obviously made me feel a lot better about myself, that somebody understood that, that it was wrong."

The commission concluded Robert's rights were violated. It found that many protocols were not respected: criminal record checks were not done, serious third party information not considered significant enough to look into and youth protection investigators met the children with the foster parents present.

Batshaw refused to comment specifically on Robert's case.

Robert said he has a message for Batshaw: "Don't let an opportunity to improve go away," he said. "There should be better trained workers to be able to pick up signs for this and more communications between the kids and the workers."

The commission is expecting a detailed report from Batshaw by the end of March.