Kids 'ripped out' of safe spaces after province cut ties with foster home operator that provided pot: worker

Workers with a Manitoba foster home operator that gave cannabis to kids in care say the province moved too quickly to cut ties with Spirit Rising House, leaving at-risk youth in its homes uncertain where they'll be living in the next month.

Abigail Shepell, a support worker at one of the 11 homes run by Spirit Rising House, said it took 2½ years to get three siblings together in the same home.

But with the imminent closure of that foster home, they now don't know where they are headed.

"It's not fair that they're being ripped out of these homes where they feel safe, they feel loved," said Shepell — one of several Spirit Rising House workers who gathered outside Manitoba's legislative building Thursday to protest the province's decision to end its relationship with the private, for-profit foster home operator.

"They aren't being listened to. They're advocating for themselves to stay in these homes."

Last month, the provincial government said it was cutting ties with Spirit Rising House after learning some of its workers were giving unauthorized cannabis to youth in their care as a form of harm reduction.

Several former and current employees told CBC News they had concerns with how the homes were run, alleging the pot was used as a way to numb the kids instead of dealing with their trauma.

Shepell said the three siblings she fears could be split up are between the ages of 14 and 17. They're Level 5 CFS children — youth with high, complex care needs deemed at risk of sexual exploitation, drug use and self-harm.

Since being reunited, they've been working together to get sober, said Shepell.

"They've depended on each other. When one is feeling down, the other two pick each other up. It's really amazing to see that a family can be brought back together," she said.

However, the three siblings will not be separated, according to a spokesperson for the Southern Network of Care, which oversees the delivery of services by the Southeast Child and Family Services agency.

The majority of children housed in Spirit Rising House's 11 homes were under the guardianship of Southeast CFS.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said about a third of the kids in Spirit Rising House's care have been moved, with no timeline for when the rest will find new homes.

Some who are over the age of 18 are transitioning to adult services, she said, but her department is focusing on individualized plans for each youth. 

Fontaine said while she understands the concerns about removing the 34 kids in Spirit Rising House care from their homes, she had to move them from an unsafe environment.

"It's not just a little bit of pot. There was cannabis that was being distributed, unauthorized and against the law," she said. 

"Imagine for a moment that I, as the minister, knew that cannabis was being distributed to youth — some as young as 13, 14, 15 — and I did nothing about that?" 

Company asked for 6 months with kids

Spirit Rising House has billed itself as a provider of homes specializing in stabilization and treating addictions for at-risk youth.

After the province announced it was cutting ties with the company, it shut down its website.

The four owners of the company declined to comment, but in an email sent through their lawyer said they are "deeply concerned with the safety" of their youth.

They said they offered to keep the homes open for a minimum of six months to minimize the disruption to the youth, but that offer was declined.

Amy Brereton, a house manager and addictions counsellor at Spirit Rising House, said the workers who protested at the legislature Thursday weren't there because they care about the company, but because they care about the kids.

"It's no longer about Spirit Rising," she told CBC at the protest. 

"It is about the safety of our kids, the well-being and the stability of our kids. And I think it is 100 per cent unfair what is going on with them."

The youth she cares for are going through "absolute emotional turmoil" as they live in limbo, with no new placements available, said Brereton.

"The city is overwhelmed with a waitlist of kids waiting to get into foster homes, group homes, emergency placements," she said. 

Both Brereton and Shepell said they wish the kids could be kept at the homes, with their foster parents — without Spirit Rising House being involved.

But Fontaine says the blame lies with the company.

"I wish that Spirit Rising House wouldn't have been giving cannabis to children. That's what I wish," she said. "And then we wouldn't have been in this situation."