Alex Gervais's tragic life defined by missed opportunities
Teen's miserable childhood in ministry care could have been avoided, says family
Alex Decarie-Gervais' tragic life in the care of B.C's ministry of Children and Family development is the result of a series of missed opportunities by child protection officials, according to his family and at least one expert in social work.
"The system let him down by refusing my aunt the capability of adopting him," said Christopher Decarie-Dawson, Alex Decarie-Gervais' half-brother, from his home in Hull, Quebec.
Decarie-Dawson remembers a week long visit with his younger brother in 2008 when Alex was just 10 years old.
Social workers arranged for the boy to leave his foster home in B.C. to visit their aunt's lakefront home in Quebec.
Missed chance at a normal childhood
"I spent the week with him. He was very nice but very on edge and very jittery … he was very fidgety and anxious," remembered Decarie-Dawson, who, eight years earlier, was born to the same mother as Alex.
It's not clear how many foster homes Alex had been in by then.
His placement, at age 18, at the Super 8 motel in Abbotsford, where he jumped, or fell from a 4th floor hotel room Sept 18., was his 16th in B.C.'s child protection system.
"The system let both of us down because I've gone through the exact same thing. I was abused by my mother as well, but I got lucky that I was taken by my father who was not sick," said Decarie-Dawson, who says his mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was unable to care for him or Alex.
Aunts attempts to get custody failed
The elder brother credits his aunt, Line Decarie, for saving him and helping his father gain custody.
He is angry her attempts to adopt Alex were blocked by B.C. officials who "refused to give custody to (her) because his father was still around, still alive."
Line Decarie first tried to gain custody of her nephew years earlier, when Alex was four.
She says police called her to tell her he'd been thrown down a flight of stairs by his father but an Ontario judge decided to give Alex's father a second chance.
"Alex's father had mental health issues. Why they gave him full custody of Alex I don't understand up to this day," said Decarie, who lost touch with her nephew for several years when his father took him to B.C., where he ended up in foster care.
The Decarie family didn't see him again until he visited their home.
At the request of CBC News, Decarie dug through boxes to locate photos of that trip.
Images of a timid child tubing on his uncle's boat, bonding with the aunt who wanted to be his adoptive mother, and being embraced by relatives paint a picture of a childhood that could have been much different.
Family lost contact
The family says it was more than willing to adopt Alex, so long as it had assurances his father would have no contact.
B.C. social workers refused, and the Decaries lost all contact with Alex.
The next time child protection officials called the family would be to notify them of his death says Decarie-Dawson.
"Because he was in the foster system, so we couldn't get a message to him; we couldn't even find out if he was still alive until we found out that he died," said Decarie-Dawson, angry his brother was placed alone in a motel for nearly three months.
"I'm appalled about what has happened to him. He should have had help. He should've had someone to call."
B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Families would not answer specific questions about the adoption attempt citing privacy law.
Bias towards biological parents says expert
"There might be some missed opportunities," said Dr. Peter Choate, professor of social work at Mount Royal University in Calgary, who has testified as an expert witness in more than 100 child protection cases.
He says social workers are trained to preserve families, but some give too much preference for parents over aunts and uncles.
"We can be too biased at times towards biological parents and not contemplate what other opportunities may be there that would serve the best interests of the child," said Choate.
He believes there is a lot to learn from reviewing Alex Decarie-Gervais's case.
"Why did we want to keep Alex in contact with his biological parents as long as we did?"
"Did we do enough assessment to see the impact of mental illness on the capacity to parent?"
Choate hopes an independent inquiry will answer those questions, though he warns against a "witch-hunt" against social workers, who have a tough job.
"You are working with the unpredictability of human behavior … the public has to recognize that these are human beings engaged in very human work."
