By Aaron Miller-
A Canadian mother is planning to contest an application to extend her son’s forced isolation in a property because she has lost all faith in the specialised placement, and she is troubled that she can’t visit her son at all in these Covid-19 times.
She is asking for training and support to have her very disruptive and violent 12 year old son back under her roof. Neither the identity of the woman or that of her son can be revealed for legal reasons. Her wishes are unlikely to be granted because of the long history of violence of the boy who is considered a threat to the public. The 12 year old boy in Sunbury Count diagnosed with behavioural disorders has been living apart from his family for one full year. The boy is said to be a danger to himself, his pregnant mother, his teenage sister, his toddler sister and the baby that was due in May.
He is monitored in a bungalow, officially described as ”specialised accommodation”, by up to two dozen workers who come and go in shifts around the clock. A minimum of two people must be on site at any given time.Workers are there to feed the boy, provide him with medication, document his behaviour and, often they have to restrain him.
“He might as well be in a private jail, his mother told The Eye Of Media.Com by phone, after speaking with a couple of other Canadian news outlets. “It’s inhumane,” she said, after blasting a news outlet that wasn’t interested in the story. She wants her son to be allowed home despite the threat he possesses to her and other family members. The Department of Social Development confirmed the property is being used for a specialised placement. In New Brunswick, specialised placements of this kind are used in the most complex cases to keep those problematic youths who can’t be housed in foster care or a group home.
They costs about $420,000 per year, per child, according to the auditor-general. The inside of the house is stripped bare, said the mother, to prevent the boy from weaponizing objects. It also means there are fewer things for him to damage. The bathroom has no shower curtain. The toilet is made of steel. The TV is encased in a Plexiglas box. The stove and fridge have been taken out of the kitchen and moved into a bedroom, where they’re locked away, said the mother. There are no educational materials on site, and he’s not getting any schooling, she says.
“This is the harshest environment I have ever experienced,” she said. “The bottom of the barrel.”The family has been dealing with the Department of Social Development for several years. His mother later attempted to withdraw her consent in April 2019 after he was moved into the specialised placement and a few months later, the mother said she wanted to withdraw her consent.
In September 2019, the department applied to the courts to have the boy placed in temporary protective custody, and a six-month order was granted in October 2019. It followed lengthy affidavits from educators who had documented the boy’s troubles in school from an early age.
In Grade 1, the boy had threatened to kill an educational assistant, and that was the year he started being suspended. In Grade 2, he punched the principal, smashed up a phone and pretended to point a gun at his mother when she came to pick him up. “It’s not as satanic as it sounds,” said the mother, who feels the school system did not do enough to support her son when he was in a state of high anxiety, confusion, and agitation. The school responded to his threats and aggression by going into lockdowns. The boys condition has seen him visits hospitals and psychiatric wards.
Once, he was given emergency sedation while four guards held him down.
He was seen and assessed by doctors and psychiatrists and was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.
In March 2019, after the boy was accused of bringing knives to school, he was suspended one last time and he never went back. One year later, the boy’s case workers say he’s still a threat, according to affidavits filed in court.
Consequently, the Department of Social Development is seeking to extend the protective custody order by another six months. The mother said she plans to contest that application because she’s lost all faith in the specialised placement, and she is troubled that she can’t visit her son at all.
“He’ll be safer here,” she said from home. “If they’ll give me some training and support.”
On March 16, her three day a week supervised visits were cancelled because of COVID-19.The last time she laid eyes on her son was Easter Sunday, she said.That’s when she dropped off a home-made meal, including ham and turkey, stuffing and potatoes.She was told to leave it at the door and wave to her son from her car.