Government may add red flag to health files of children in care

The electronic medical files of children known to the child protection system will soon have a flag on them, alerting doctors and nurses to that fact.

The government hopes that will improve the communication between health-care professionals and child protection officials when a child is treated for any kind of injury.

The commitment comes after the death of a child who was known to child protection officials.

But the circumstances of that child's death — including whether he or she died from abuse — are secret, as a matter of government policy.

• Abused children shouldn't be sent back into home, child death committee says
• The Lost Children: Full Coverage

In June, the child death review committee said social workers shouldn't put a child who suffered a "non-accidental injury" back into a home until "the perpetrator has been identified."

Families and Children Minister Stephen Horsman accepts the "intent" of that recommendation, according to a statement issued on Monday.

But his response to the recommendation doesn't say the government will change any of its policies when it comes to reuniting children with their parents after abuse.

In cases where a child is abused and the perpetrator hasn't been identified, social workers will create a plan for the child through mediation with family.

If the parents disagree with the plan, the minister will consult a lawyer to see if a court order is needed.

Child and youth advocate tracking case

Standards will also be updated to require social workers to do a new "child protection intake" when a social worker notices an injury serious enough to require a trip to a hospital.

"An intake requires that the situation be clearly documented and assessed in order to monitor the chronicity of the reports and effectiveness of interventions," the statement says.

• Explainer: How New Brunswick's child death review system works

Child and youth advocate Norm Bossé has been monitoring the child death reviewed by the committee.

In June, he said his office may launch a review if it isn't pleased with the government's response.

"When you look at those recommendations they're making, they're signalling to social development that you may have a problem in your systems here," Bossé said in June.

"We're telling you that when that happens before you release the child to the parents, there should be more done."

He also said the public should be concerned about the case, looking beyond social workers and questioning if people in the community had concerns about the unnamed child being placed back with his or her parents.

Policy will flag at-risk parents

Horsman's statement also responds to recommendations issued in four other child deaths.

It doesn't say how, where or when those children died, or if their deaths could have been prevented.

In one other case, the child death review committee said the Department of Social Development should make "every effort" to do home visits for babies born to drug-addicted mothers.

The department says it's changed its policies for babies at risk for a number of reasons, including "prenatal drug or medication exposure."

It flags parents who refuse pre-birth services that could help them have healthier babies. In some cases, the department will request that hospital staff notify social workers when the baby is born so they can follow up.

Child death review system could see changes

The province's child death review committee is required to review the deaths of children who are known to the minister.

The goal is to prevent similar deaths in the future. The committee can't assign blame.

A CBC News investigation found the committee works mostly in the shadows, offering recommendations with little detail or context.

As a result, the government says it is reviewing the child death review system to try to make it more transparent.

Horsman's statement says government has consulted with both Bossé and Anne Bertrand, the access to information and privacy commissioner as part of that review.

Both have told CBC News the public should know more about at-risk children are dying.

The government will offer an update on its review later this year.

Part 1: The Lost Children: The secret life of death by neglect

Jackie Brewer, the 2-year-old who was ignored to death

How New Brunswick's child death review system works

Part 2: The Lost Children: 'A child that dies shouldn't be anonymous'

Haunted by Juli-Anna: An 'agonizingly painful' preventable death

Part 3: The Lost Children: Change on horizon for First Nations child welfare

Mona Sock, a life stolen by abuse

Part 4: The Lost Children: Government weighs privacy over transparency in child deaths

Baby Russell: A few minutes of life, then a knife in the heart