Bad bookkeeping: Crofford on foster children report

CBC, Dec 16 2003

REGINA -The Opposition is calling on the government to do more to protect children in its care after the Children's Advocate, the provincial auditor and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations raised concerns about the situation.
Investigations have found that even though social workers had good rules in place for handling foster children, those rules were often ignored.

The province's auditor found that in seven of 16 cases he reviewed, criminal record checks were not recorded for prospective foster parents. Fred Wendel also found that in one case an extensive criminal record was discovered, but was not considered in the evaluation of the foster home.

Joanne Crofford, the Minister of Community Resources, says she believes that proper checks are being done, but that they are not being recorded. She also admits that even if that is the case, improvements are needed.

Opposition critic Brenda Bakken says that blaming bookkeeping isn't good enough.

"Children are put in care. They're taken out of a vulnerable situation and are supposed to be put in a situation which is better for them," Bakken said. "They're supposed to be ensured that they have security of being well looked after, and if criminal record checks are not even happening, I think it's very alarming that these children are being put in maybe a worse situations and certainly in situations that are not safe."

Crofford says she has ordered her department to review the situation and make sure that criminal records checks are done before children are placed in foster homes.

Social services, student loans need attention: Auditor

CBC, Dec 11 2003 06:53 PM CST

REGINA -Saskatchewan's auditor is chastising the government for neglecting its own rules for spending public money. Fred Wendel is afraid welfare and student loan money isn't always going to people who need it most.
The auditor says nearly half the people who receive social assistance haven't enough information in their files to prove their eligibility.

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"Departments make payments to people who must meet a financial needs test," he said when releasing his latest report to the media Thursday morning. "In 2003, the departments spent about $300 million on financial aid for these people. Neither department has done sufficient work to know that the people receiving financial aid are entitled to it."

The minister responsible for Community Resources and Employment agrees a problem exists. Joanne Crofford says she takes the auditor's report very seriously, and that more work is being done to make sure all the necessary information is being collected to ensure eligibility.

"We do have a wide variety of checks and balances that come from a number of different perspectives," she said, adding that she plans to make sure all the information being gathered shows up in the recipent files.

The provincial auditor also repeated his previously reported concerns over gambling profits at the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA). Wendel says the organization continues to spend money without proper care and are refusing to let the auditor see its books.

RELATED STORY: SIGA reports big profits for third quarter.

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