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4 - The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, November 10, 1998 Region, Children 's Aid change th eir procedures after girl nearly starves By LISA TALLYN "In situations where you're dealing with at-nisk fam- Special ta The Champion ilies sometimes you have to take that extra step," said Both Halton Region and the Haiton Childrcn's Aid Ms Chan. Society (CAS) have made changes in the way their bI uiy the girl's father, James Wayne Clayton, was staff deai with child negecet foilowing a case in which scntenccd to 21 months in prison for failing to provide a five-year-old Acton girl nearly starved to dcath. the necessities of life and the girl's mother, Maryanne Halton Region has strengthened its staff prucedures McCutcheon, was placed on three years probation for for deaiing with cases of chiid neglect, and staff training regard- ing neglect situations has also been increased at Haiton Children's Aid Society. "I think it's sad that this hap- pened. We have a responsibility to look at it as a single organization and a system," said Haiton Region' s acting commissioner of social and community services Karen Chan. She said the Region was involved with the child for about a year and provided some "I think it's sad that this happened. We have a responsibility to look at it as a single organization and a system." KAREN CHAN parent-infant services to the fami- Iy. Ms Chan said since the court case dealing with the incident in July the Region has put in place aIl the checks and balances they could. The Region has implemented procedures to ensure there is compiete shaning of information regarding cases where other agencies and professionals are also involved, and that regional staff insist on verification that medical and health-related direction given by workers is actually carried out by the famiiy. She said there were some assumptions made by regional staff at the time that directions were being carried out, and staff didn't follow up directly wîth medical personnel. child negleet. The girl and her two siblings are in foster care. Ms Chan said during the time the Region worked with the Acton child "we didn't identify issues related to starvation." Gail Vandermeulen, acting executive director of Halton CAS said, "the important thing to remember is this case is n0W severai years oid. "We learned by the case of that child. We leam by every case," said Ms Vandermeulen. I think we weren't able to recognize the indicators of negleet well enough." But she stressed staff at CAS didn't do anything wrong. She said the area of negleet has been very dif- ficult to deal with because it isn't entrenched in law and is difficult to prove in court. She said had the case been dealt with today it may have been handled differ- ently. She said Halton CAS staff have undergone more training in recognizing negleet. John Day, board chair and president of Halton Children's Aid Society, said what happened to the Acton child "serves to illustrate the symptoms of the -see CHANGES an page 13 HA LTO The Board of Directors of the Community Care Access Centre of Halton are pIeased to invite you to attend an OPEN BOARD MEETIN November 18, 1998 4:30 p.m. ta 6:00 p.m. PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE Milton District Hospital Classroom 30 Derry Road East Milton, ON L9T 2X5 HIGHUGHTS 0F AGENDA Service Provider Forum For fwthe informMati l el: Unrda Ferras at (905) 639-522 ext 8921 or if long disance 1«800810.M00 Future meetng dates and lmos to beannounlced. AUCTION SALE NEW FURNITURE Saturday, Nov.mb.r f4th, 1998 Royal Canaedian Leglon, 15 Wrght St., Acton PreviOw Fil.MOUs 13m &OGPni.&OOpoand Sot. Nov 14"' SOOam Sale T7ime: 1:3Oam This large sale conalsts of brand new qualty furni- ture tram major manufacturers. Everythlng tram 9pc. Cherry finish dining room suite ta Mexican wardrobes, Hand carved Indonesian china cabinets, I 2-3pc. sofa sets, Double pedestal oak finish dlning room suite with press back chairs, Hutch and buffet, Bookaheivea, lampe, Area muga, Washstanda, SwIvel rocker, 3-6pc. Bedroom suites, TV Mlcrowave and Entertainment unita, Qulît racks, CD racks, Curlo cab- inets, Matresses, Bevuied glass kitchen sets, Varlous cotte. and end tables, 6 moid pime tables, Wime racks, Pîcture trames, Reproduction Items, and aiso a quan- tlty of uaed fumniture, etc., etc. This la only a ampl. ai what wul be aold ta Sthe hil~etblddsr. For Information oeil (519) 821-9331 Paymsnt Acc.pto CashfVlsa, MIC à Knawn choque wlth pmoporID F