Kids' injuries may be going unreported during pandemic, Manitoba children's advocate, doctor fear

Serious injuries to children in Manitoba appear to be dropping, according to provincial data, but the acting Manitoba advocate for children and youth and a Winnipeg pediatrician say they're worried mistreatment is simply going unreported because of the pandemic. 

CHEO, a pediatric health-care and research centre in Ottawa, says it's seeing an unprecedented number of infants with what doctors are calling "maltreatment injuries" in recent months. 

In Manitoba, data from the province says that the number of children coming to Winnipeg emergency rooms with injuries in January of this year — 675 — was actually down compared to 970 in January 2020.

But Ainsley Krone, the acting Manitoba advocate for children and youth, says she doesn't think that tells the full story.

"Children are having less contact with adults in the community who typically would have their eyes on them" during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.  

"Because of the nature of the restrictions that all of us are under right now, children just don't have the same opportunities to have that contact with adults." 

Dr. Megan Cooney, a Winnipeg pediatrician, treats patients who are referred from Child and Family Services, nursing stations or physicians who are concerned that a child may have been abused.

Though many come through an emergency department, a lot of the referrals she sees involve less-serious injuries that probably wouldn't land a kid in the hospital, she said. 

She says she has been seeing fewer referrals over the last year, but doesn't think that's necessarily a good thing. 

"I think part of the concern with COVID is that we don't know if there's actually less abuse that's happening or just less abuse is being brought to our attention," she said.

She echoes Krone's concern that mistreatment may be going unreported, because children have less contact with adults in the community through school or extracurricular activities.

"One of our main concerns is that it's still happening, but it's just not presenting to our attention because of the lockdown and the restrictions that are in place."

Better reporting system needed

Overall, Krone says her office doesn't have a full picture of just how many serious injuries to children are happening in Manitoba. She wants a more robust system for reporting them. 

Under legislation passed in 2018, the children's advocate has the power to investigate serious injuries to children who came into contact with social services besides CFS — such as education, health and justice — when they are reported to the advocate's office.

However, the part of the legislation that requires government agencies to report such injuries to the advocate hasn't come into full effect yet, meaning many incidents are slipping through the cracks, Krone said.

That means her office only finds out about incidents when the media asks about them or the community reports them, she said. 

"This was a real gap in terms of knowledge in the province," she said. 

"If we can understand where children are sustaining serious injuries, then we can do a lot of work in making communities safer."

For example, a suicide attempt that resulted in a hospitalization would fall under the advocate's authority to investigate. That would also be something the advocate would want to look into, given that it is the leading cause of death for people aged 11 to 17 in Manitoba, she said. 

"The more information that we know, the more information that we can provide to service producers and the government about how to provide services more quickly to young people," and hopefully prevent more deaths, she said.

In an email, Families Minister Rochelle Squires said she is committed to reviewing the Advocate for Children and Youth Act and looks forward to updating the legislature in due course.

Krone said it's troubling to think that there could be incidents where children are being harmed going unnoticed. 

"We're always grateful when the community reports info to us, but in some respects it's a bit heartbreaking to know that there are potentially so many more injuries that are occurring that we don't know about," she said.

"And that's the hard part."

If you're experiencing suicidal thoughts or having a mental health crisis, there is help out there.

Contact the Manitoba Suicide Prevention and Support Line toll-free at 1-877-435-7170 (1-877-HELP170) or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868.

You can also text CONNECT to 686868 and get immediate support from a crisis responder through the Crisis Text Line, powered by Kids Help Phone.