Alex Gervais's foster brother says nothing wrong with former group home

The foster brother of Alex Gervais, the B.C. teen who died while in provincial care, says there was no reason to shut down their former group home and put the troubled teen in a hotel, unsupervised for months.

Gervais, 18, died last month when he jumped or fell from the fourth-floor window of a Super 8 hotel in Abbotsford, B.C. Gervais's text messages show he repeatedly reached out to social workers for help and support.

"He was the only person I could talk to, the only person I know who could relate to me, the only person who would be there for me," said Stephen Fromow.

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Fromow, 20, is struggling to cope with the death of his former foster brother. Fromow aged out of provincial care last year, after having shared a group home with Gervais for seven years.

'I would lose my mind'

He said he was angry to learn the group home was shutdown and Gervais was sent to a hotel.

"I lost my mind when I heard that, because the one thing Alex always said to me is, 'I never want to go back to a hotel, ever,'" said Fromow. 

"They'd already done that to him ... he hated it. He said, 'If I was ever to go to a hotel like that I would lose my mind,' and look what happened."

The Ministry for Children and Families said its policy is to not place children in government care in hotels except in "extremely rare circumstances."

If a child is put in a hotel, the placement must be approved by a designated director and reported to the directorate of child welfare. 

Gervais death under review

The ministry is currently reviewing whether or not its policy was followed. 

But Fromow said he hopes the review into his foster brother's death goes beyond the decision to put the depressed and addicted teen into a hotel, unsupervised. 

He said the ministry's decision to shut down 23 group homes, including the one that housed him and Gervais, was overkill.

Both Fromow and the company that ran those homes, Community Vision, said there was no substance abuse, pornography or mold as was alleged. 

"The government kind of just jumped on whose heads to chew off and whose to fry, and they just incorporated everybody into it when realistically they should have taken the time to figure out who's to blame," said Fromow.

"In the end, the group home that Alex and I were in was the best group home we could have possibly asked for."