NCJ Number
72740
Date Published
1978
Length
224 pages
Annotation
This book, based on the death and inquest of 1-month-old Vicky Ellis, explores the weaknesses and strengths of child welfare system in Canada and some of the problems it faces in preventing child abuse.
Abstract
The book begins by describing the death of Vicky Ellis and the shortcomings of the Ontario child welfare system, which had expended well over $2 million to deal with the Ellises as parents and to protect their children. It provides a brief historical description of the evolution of children's rights and cites pertinent statistics such as the 500 children who are victims of assault in Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and the 75,000 children in the care of child welfare authorities across Canada as a result of abuse or neglect. A brief history of child abuse is also presented, begining with the description of child abuse by the French expert Ambroise Tardieu in 1860 and including factors that hamper reporting of child abuse or neglect cases. Problems of the family court and the Children's Aid Society in relation to child abuse cases are explored in detail. Problems of social workers are also examined in a chapter dealing with lack of resources and burnout, or emotional withdrawal from clients. Other chapters describe the storage of facilities for children in need of protection and new trends in child protection, such as the national child care system in Demark which demonstrates a strong commitment to child abuse prevention. It is concluded that the public, while angry at failures in the child welfare system, is not yet committed to the expenditures necessary to make such a system effective. An appendix contains four case histories of abuse. Notes are provided for each chapter.