Katelynn Sampson inquest recommendations focus on children's rights

Children should have a say into decisions relating to their care, including resources and requirements for Children's Aid Society and Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services workers, recommends a coroner's jury probing the 2008 death of seven-year-old Katelynn Sampson.

The jury released 173 recommendations on Friday, many focusing on the rights of children in the child welfare system, years after Katelynn was killed by her guardians.

Her body was found on Aug. 3, 2008, after one of her guardians called 911 claiming the child had choked while eating.

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Many of the recommendations, including entrenching children's rights into the province's Education Act, focus on how to better include children in decisions related to their care in the child welfare system. 

Other recommendations include:

• Creating a new legislative framework around disclosing information from the Children's Aid Society to third parties.
• Major overhauls to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services database.

Katelynn came to live with Donna Irving and Warren Johnson after her mother, Bernice Sampson, who was addicted to crack cocaine, realized she could no longer care for the girl herself.

It was later discovered that a judge had granted the couple custody without knowing they had lengthy criminal records and previous involvement with child welfare agencies.

Irving and Johnson pleaded guilty in 2012 to second-degree murder and are serving life sentences.

The inquest, which began in November, aimed to clarify the circumstances surrounding Katelynn's death and suggest ways to prevent similar incidents leading to death.