Ombudsman releases scathing report after Toronto boy, 10, found malnourished and living in squalor

A 10-year-old boy was found malnourished and living in squalor in October 2018 but the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto refused to take him into their custody, prompting “horrified” police officers to step in.

This is according to a newly released report from Ontario’s Ombudsman which reveals a series of repeated failures by CAS Toronto to protect the boy after he was placed in the care of his great-uncle.

In the report, titled ‘A Voice Unheard: Brandon’s Story,’ Ombudsman Paul Dube concludes that CAS Toronto’s response to concerns about the child’s welfare “was marred by a series of delayed investigations, safety assessments, visits, supervision sessions, and service plans.”

Dube also says that CAS Toronto erred by “routinely” failing to meet with the boy in private, “leaving his voice unheard and ignored.”

“The CAS’s responses to the child protection concerns raised in Brandon’s case were often untimely and inadequate. Rather than proper diligence, its actions were characterized by delays and deficiencies,” Dube notes in the report.

Dube’s 87-page report covers the period from Dec. 30, 2015 to Oct. 26, 2018 when “Brandon,” a pseudonym used to protect the boy’s identity, was between the ages of seven and 10.

The report reveals that CAS Toronto received multiple reports from school officials raising concerns about Brandon’s care but permitted him “to live in chronically neglectful conditions” over a period of years.

The situation ultimately came to a head on Oct. 22, 2018 when a CAS worker decided to visit the boy’s home with police after his great-uncle failed to show up for a scheduled meeting at the school.

In his report, Dube says that the case worker arrived to find Brandon “curled up on a stained futon in the main living area” in what they later described as a “catatonic state.”

He was taken to hospital, where doctors determined that he was 15 pounds underweight for his age and height, had an enlarged kidney and was suffering from a kidney infection.

Dube says that the case worker believed that Brandon was “at immediate risk of harm” and called a supervisor to ask for permission to formally apprehend him but had the request denied, prompting police to intervene and formally apprehend the boy themselves.

“The police officers were horrified by Brandon’s living conditions, including the permeating stench from cigarettes and cat litter, the filthy state of the floors and walls, the urine-streaked futon without sheets where Brandon lay wrapped in a dirty blanket, and the live and dead cockroaches littering the floor,” Dube wrote in the report. “The police officers assumed that the CAS would remove Brandon from the home for his own safety. After they learned the CAS had no intention of doing so, the Toronto Police Service formally apprehended him, and he was taken to a foster home.”

Guardian’s capacity to care for boy became ‘severely compromised’

Dube pointed out in his report that Brandon “was not the victim of deliberate abuse” and appeared to have a close relationship with his great-uncle.

But he says that the great-uncle’s capacity to care for him became “severely compromised” over time.

During this period there were several red flags that Dube argued should have prompted a more fulsome response by CAS Toronto.

In one example, detailed in the report, Dube said that a vice-principal notified the agency about an “incident of suicidal ideation” involving Brandon in April 2017. However, he said that there was “no record of any follow-up with the family or attempt to interview Brandon” about the incident.

Dube said that a CAS case worker was also contacted by Brandon’s pediatrician about a month later and informed that the boy had “kidney damage and was in urgent need of mental health support.” The pediatrician raised concerns at that time that the boy’s great-uncle appeared to be “slurring his words” but Dube said that “it does not appear that there was any substantive follow-up” to the allegations.

“Brandon’s situation degraded over time to the point of crisis,” Dube said. “Unfortunately, during the period in question, the CAS was distracted by the assurances of Brandon’s family. It lost sight of its responsibility to act in his best interests, leaving him to suffer in silence in a situation of chronic neglect.”

18 RECOMMENDATIONS

Dube said in the report that “more credence” should have been given to those “those who had witnessed Brandon’s physical state, behaviour and living conditions” following the visit to his home on Oct. 22, 2018.

He said, instead, the “CAS placed significant emphasis on the existing supervision order” and initially argued that Brandon should have been returned to the care of his great-uncle.

Dube said that while the standard in child protection needs to be “the best interests of the child” rather than “trying their best,” that distinction “appears to have been lost at times in Brandon’s case.”

“The CAS should use Brandon’s case as an example for supervisors, to encourage them to carefully consider the opinions of workers and other professionals in the field when assessing immediate risks of harm and a child’s best interests,” Dube writes.

Dube makes a total of 18 recommendations in his report.

CAS Toronto has agreed to implement all 18 recommendations and in a news release, Dube said that he has been “encouraged” by their response so far, which has included a commitment to updating his office on their progress every six months.

CP24.com has reached out to CAS Toronto for comment but has not yet heard back.