Child's murder brought changes to agency.

"Knowing that we could have done more to prevent Jeffrey's death has been heartbreaking for everyone involved," Mary McConville, Executive Director of the Toronto Catholic Children's Aid Society stated after the completion of the trial for the murder of five year old Jeffrey Kidman.

The CCAS reports that substantial changes to the agency's operating practices have been made. Jeffrey's grandparents were found guilty of second degree murder and will be sentenced in a few weeks.

Jeffrey and siblings had been removed from the care of their mother, who was abusive and negligent and was placed in the custody of his maternal grandparents. After Jeffrey was found dead in 2003 at his grandparent's home, having starved to death, the other children were taken into custody by the CCAS.

At this point a check of records at the CCAS uncovered old records that indicated that both grandparents had criminal convictions and had been involved with the agency in the 1970's.

These same grandparents had brought concerns about the treatment of the children by their mother to the attention of the agency. Because of their advocacy for the welfare of their grandchildren, the grandparents came to be viewed by CCAS staff as allies in the protection of their grandchildren.

The grandparents made private applications to family court, seeking custody of Jeffrey and his older siblings, with the backing of Jeffrey's parents and the approval of the Catholic Children's Aid Society. Later, through Child Welfare Court, a younger sibling was placed with the grandparents with the approval of the CCAS.

"We would most certainly have acted differently had the background of the grandparents surfaced and in particular, the information about their criminal convictions," the agency states.

In the summer of 2000, an investigation was initiated in response to an allegation made by an on-line acquaintance of an adult in the grandparent's home. A record check was done, but it was not extensive enough to detect the historical record. A staff visit to the home did not find any obvious evidence of maltreatment at the time. Jeffrey died in 2003. Elva Bottineau's lawyer argued that she was intellectually handicapped and not really capable of caring for children.

The agency called in child welfare expert Susan Abell to conduct an external review. The scope of the review was determined in consultation with the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Abell's recommendations supported the operational changes made by CCAS in 2003.

The changes in practices include:

* mandatory record checking and assessment of all persons including family members who come forward as an alternative to placing children in foster care;

* re-training staff and mandatory training for new staff in conducting comprehensive record checks, and reviewing family histories;

* changes in agency record keeping system to simplify record retrieval;

* creating a master database, and making historic records accessible from various CCAS branch offices on-line.

Along with these improvements, the external review identified the need for systemic change and the establishment of provincial standards and protocols regarding background checks and the assessment of homes where family members come forward as potential caregivers.

In June 2005, proposed amendments to the Child and Family Services Act to enable the government to standardize the practice of all Children's Aid Societies with respect to background checks and comprehensive home studies of extended family members.