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Minister refuses to fully implement CPIN now


By Bill Rea
Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones was not pleased with the answers she received earlier this month on the government's implementation of the Child Protection Information Network (CPIN).
Speaking during Question Period in the legislature, Jones first put her inquiries to Premier Kathleen Wynne, but she deferred to Children and Youth Services Minister Tracy MacCharles
Jones cited the fact that the previous week had seen a coroner's jury, looking into the death of seven-year-old Katelynn Sampson, who had been beaten to death in the summer of 2008, had delivered 173 recommendations. And two years ago, a coroner's inquest into the death of Jeffrey Baldwin resulted in 103 recommendations. Jeffrey died of neglect in 2002.
Jones noted recommendations from both inquests called for the implementation of CPIN, which would allow all child protection agencies across the province to share and access information to ensure the safety of the most vulnerable children.
“Eleven years since the death of Jeffrey Baldwin, only 10 child protection agencies will be using CPIN by June, while 37 agencies are still waiting,” Jones said, according to Hansard. “We owe it to Katelynn and Jeffrey to have CPIN operating across Ontario. Why the delay?
MacCharles responded by praising the work of the jury at the Sampson inquest.
“Their recommendations and consideration of how we support and protect our children are incredibly valuable,” she said. “My ministry will, of course, consider each jury recommendation to ensure that we help prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
She added the government has already taken action, since the Baldwin inquest, including requiring non-parents seeking custody to provide the court with police checks and a child record search.
Jones agreed the jury had done its job.
“It's now time for the minister to do hers,” she added.
Jones charged the government has paid more than $13 million to consultants to come up with software to run CPIN, and wondered why the money wasn't going to childrens aid societies waiting access it.
“We owe it to Jeffrey Baldwin and Katelynn Sampson to get this right,” she said. “When will the Premier stop spending money on high-priced consultants and allow all children's aid protection agencies access to CPIN?”
MacCharles countered the government is creating the system “precisely because we want to prevent the kinds of tragedies that have happened to children in this province before.”
She added the system will create one record for every child, so that all information can be shared across children's aid societies.
“We have a number of agencies already on the network,” she said. “We have more agencies coming online this spring.”
“We owe it to Katelynn and Jeffrey to get this critical program right,” Jones commented later. “The Premier and the Minister need to stop spending on high-priced consultants and allow all child protection agencies to access CPIN.”
Post date: 2016-05-18 16:32:47
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