On Nov. 18, the independent watchdog for children and families will appear before the legislature’s finance committee to seek funds to launch three major investigations in the coming year, including one into Nick Lang’s death.
The family of a 15-year-old Chilliwack boy who died in government care in June says the B.C. government's internal review of the case was a whitewash and they plan to be in the B.C. legislature on Wednesday to encourage MLAs to back an independent investigation.
Nick Lang was supposed to be on a court-ordered intensive supervision program last spring as part of his sentence for putting a knife to his mother's throat. He later threatened to kill himself, and was known to be using crystal methamphetamine. Nick's family was assured he would be placed in a wrap-around support program on Vancouver Island on an urgent basis.
A case management review for the Ministry of Children and Family Development obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that the intensive supervision was non-existent. Although ministry officials knew Nick was in a precarious state, the youth waited at home for more than a month to get into the Headstart Program in Campbell River. In all that time, he had no ministry contact or any direction to connect with his probation officer.
"The level of service provided to N.L. from the date of sentence to the date he travelled to the Headstart Program did not meet the requirements of policy, or the risk level and needs of the youth," the Oct. 15 report concluded.
"A youth rated as a high risk to re-offend violently … was not given any reporting instructions and was not seen for four and a half weeks."
When he arrived at a foster home in Campbell River to attend the intensive support program in June, the program's supervisors were not made aware the youth was a suicide risk.
Six days after he began the program, Nick Lang was found dead in a closet, an apparent suicide.
"I wanted the basics for my son, I wanted him to get treatment, I wanted him to get help," Peter Lang said in an interview on Tuesday. He said the government report by an outside contractor glossed over troubling questions. Mr. Lang, who is Métis, said his efforts to get culturally appropriate help for his boy were rebuffed – he did not learn until after his son's death that aboriginal treatment programs were available in the Chilliwack community.
Mr. Lang is also upset that his son was cut off from his family when he was moved to Vancouver Island. He was denied the opportunity to drive his son to Campbell River to join the Headstart Program, and as a result, his last contact with him was when he was left to wrestle the reluctant youth into a car so a probation officer could take him away. "I saw his little face looking back at me from the car as they drove away."
Mr. Lang said he was assured his son would get support to detoxify from drug use, and that he would be watched constantly to ensure his safety. "We were duped."
On Wednesday, the independent watchdog for children and families, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, will appear before the legislature's finance committee to seek funds to launch three major investigations in the coming year, including one into Nick's death.
Members of his family plan to attend the committee meeting to offer support for the review.
Doug Donaldson, the New Democratic Party critic for Children and Family Development, agreed that Ms. Turpel-Lafond should be given the resources to conduct a full inquiry with the power to hear testimony under oath.
"We often use the term of falling through the cracks, this is a concrete example of that," he said. "That raises some important questions about resources on the front line and those kinds of questions cannot be answered in an internal review. We need an independent assessment of this case. "
The family is mistrustful of the government's internal review, noting that the ministry's first reaction when the family raised concerns publicly about their son's death was to send a lawyer's letter threatening them for breaching Nick's privacy. Premier Christy Clark later apologized for the letter and said the ministry should reach out to the family and hear their criticisms.