Minister: Assessments Needed before Child is Returned to Mother

Ayanna Bennett

The death of four-year-old Ayanna Bennett last month, while in the custody of a Mennonite couple, as temporary foster parents, raised the ire of many. Questions were asked about the kinds of checks and supervision that were being done why the abuse of the child could not have been detected beforehand. On Thursday, News Five got a chance to ask the Minister of Human Development, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia for an update on what her ministry has been doing to prevent another such case, and also what considerations are being given to the child’s mother. Alva Moody’ last child, a two-year-old was also taken away from her and now she says she wants her back. The minister gave us her ministry’s position.

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development, Families & Indigenous People’s Affairs

“We have been within my ministry reviewing all our protocols as to how we place children in foster care. And we have taken into account that many times for foster care it’s good to have what you call an ethnically, appropriate or friendly placement of children. You know, mind you, that is not taking away from the entire Mennonite community because they have been very good about reaching out just to repeat. There really were no red flags when those children were placed in emergency placement back in September. And so It’s still extremely difficult to talk about. We may have over 4,500 children in placements all over the country. We have government facilities. We have private facilities that we work with. We have residential care facilities. Once you have more than eight children in your care, and you’re not the biological family, you must apply for a license to operate a residential care facility. And so we have many facilities throughout the country. And there is an inspector of social service, um, institutions, and that person, um, goes out and makes sure that everything is on the up and up.

Marion Ali

“The child’s mother has been asking for a chance to get back her last little girl and she says that she has been making strides to improve her social status. What’s the ministry doing about that?”

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

“Again, it certainly isn’t a personal decision. It has to be for the Department of Human Services and of course our director is Mr. Vargas. Again, updates in terms of studies, review and assessment, and I can tell you that the children were removed in the first place for very serious circumstances.”