Alberta mother prays for baby son injured in foster care

The mother of a 15-month-old Alberta boy who was seriously hurt at his Strathmore foster home this week says doctors have told her he may die from his injuries.

"They say if he does make it, he won't be the same — he'll have cerebral palsy because he has so much trauma to the head," the mother told the media Friday outside Calgary's Alberta Children's Hospital, where her baby remained in critical condition.

"All we are doing right now is praying for him," she said.

The mother, who is from the Tsuu T'ina First Nation, said her only other child, a daughter, had been in the same foster home but was removed after her son was admitted to hospital Monday.

The mother and her child can't be identified under Alberta child welfare legislation.

The mother said while her children were at the foster home, she tried to keep in contact with them and their social worker. When she last asked to see her kids, only the girl was brought to the visit, she said.

No details given

"They told me that the foster parents told them that he [her son] was throwing up and had diarrhea," she said.

"I tried to talk to my social worker about it and she wouldn't give me any details. She just said 'Yes, he'll be there at the next visit.' "

Not being able to get a more detailed answer about her son left her with a bad feeling, she said.

This is the third serious injury or death of a child in the province's care in the last two years.

The province conducted an internal review of its foster-care system after the death of a boy in Edmonton in 2007. It is still implementing many of the recommendations.

Jake Kuiken, a former president of the Alberta College of Social Workers, said this latest case is another illustration of a system that is broken.

The province should hold a public inquiry into the entire foster-care system and give it a major overhaul, he said.