Case Scenario

Dana is preparing to complete a Comprehensive Family Assessment which involves:
• Identifying the presence of family strengths and resources and needs of family members
• Developing service plan that utilizes family strengths and targets areas of need (i.e. alignment with risk factors and recommendations in Part 3 as noted above)
• Monitoring the family’s progress and impacts of service provision

It has been 28 days since Dana completed the safety risk and family risk assessments. Two weeks into this period, a new investigation and subsequent safety and risk assessments were conducted by Dana’s colleague, Jeff in her absence. Dana returned from her vacation and received the following updates on the case from Jeff and from her follow ups with the family and collateral contacts:
The services and supports provided by Dana were left in place by Jeff following his assessments with the family. Jeff temporarily removed Jeanette with consent from Janice for a week, placing her in her aunt Celina’s care (Janice’s half sister who is visiting from Calgary and housesitting 50 kms away) following an incident at the home in which Jeanette attempted to smother Peter with a pillow while he slept. Jeanette denied the incident, claiming that she tripped over Peter and fell onto him while carrying a pillow when she got up to go to the washroom. She mentioned that it was difficult to see everyone sleeping on the mattresses on the floor. Jeff also developed a plan for reunification and monitoring of the situation. Jeanette returned home yesterday and Celina has agreed to sleep over in the family home for the couple of few weeks to supervise and support Jeanette and Peter. Celina works remotely in the mornings. Jeanette and Peter have been undergoing intensive counselling services to address their anger and aggression toward one another. They were very fortune to access this service due to a last- minute cancellation. Jeanette has since demonstrated remorse and is glad to be returning home to the family. Peter is comfortable with Jeanette returning. He believes she is sorry and won’t do it again. He also misses his older sister despite their bickering.
The incident with Jeanette and Peter has caused Janice to take the conflict between the kids more seriously. She has committed to paying closer attention to Peter and Jeanette and has since agreed to enroll in individual counselling to receive information and help on parenting and stress management issues. Janice feels better able to take on counselling due to the services and supports Dana provided and since receiving a promotion at work two weeks ago which was accompanied by a more stable work schedule and a $2/hour raise in her wage. Janice has fewer families on her caseload as a Personal Support Worker (PSW) Supervisor, and is now responsible for scheduling and supervising the other workers in the company’s service/catchment area. The raise in her wage and services from Dana have enabled the family to address several of their financial stressors. [note: students should draw on their Assignment 2 assessments and supports to collaboratively assess the family and make recommendations (service planning) for the family]. Janice tells you the counselling is ‘ok’, but when you probe a little more, Janice mentions that she wishes she had more time with the kids. She also tells you that the counsellor is nice and ‘tries hard’ and that she is grateful for the teachings the person is sharing. Janice tells you a brief story about a highly respected traditional healer she knows in her community.Pauline is lively and loves to talk. In your conversation with Pauline, she mentions that Janice is soft spoken and does not want to be disrespectful as she appreciates the help you (Dana) are providing and was grateful that Jeff did not place Jeanette worked very hard calling Janice several times and the Band to find a member of the family to temporarily look after Jeanette. Janice was worried about Jeanette staying with certain people on the reserve. Pauline also mentions that Doug dropped by about 2 and a half weeks ago to borrow some of Dillon’s tools. He went into the home when the children were being watched by Jessica without telling anyone. They haven’t seen or heard from him again but Jessica and the children were very nervous. He appeared to have been drinking, but Jessica is not sure. Janice was irate when she learned about the incident and warned him not to come by again. Pauline tells you that Doug threatened Janice with violence telling her that he will come by anytime he wants to borrow Dillon’s tools. Janice had her father return all of the tools to Dillon and Janice’s brother and father visited Doug to talk to him about not coming to the house anymore. Doug hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
The counsellor working with Peter and Jeanette called to recommend a few more sessions. She realises she has reached the maximum number of sessions contracted with Jeff (6) but mentions that the children appear to be making progress but that she believes it would be advantageous to explore some issues further and particularly the incident that occurred a few days before Jeanette attempted to smother Peter where Peter became angry at Jeanette after she told him she saw their father at the park and that the reason their father left the family was because of Peter. When you review the file, you discover Jeff noted the incident and that Peter retaliated by hiding one of his heart pills in Jeanette’s cereal. Jeanette consumed the cereal and was taken to the emergency department after feeling ‘strange’ at school. She recovered and Peter admitted the wrongdoing and apologized. He stated he didn’t think anything would happen because the people on the television shows that Jill and Jessica watch seem alright when things like that happen. Janice has since spoken to Jill and Jessica about the shows they are watching and encouraged them to watch shows that are safe for the kids to watch (family programming).
Janice was so stressed from the incident that she smoked some marijuana because her friend at work told her it would calm her down. She has since been smoking marijuana on weekends to de-stress from work. Within the last week, the kids mention that Janice’s bedroom “smells like a skunk was in there”. When you ask Janice about it, she becomes defensive and tells you, “I’m a good mom” and that she only “smokes one or two joints a week and never in front of the children”. When you speak with Janice’s father, you find out that Janice’s brother had a stroke a month ago and has not fully recovered. Janice has been very stressed about this and has had to care for her father while her brother was in the hospital. Bernice left town to visit friends. Janice is increasingly frustrated with Bernice’s gossiping and interfering but has decided to ignore Bernice and her ‘infantile behaviour’. Pauline believes this is the right thing for Janice to do. She mentions that Bernice “is always bad-mouthing someone”, that Janice has “no life” and that her activities include going to and from work, cooking dinner and watching the kids. Pauline goes over for coffee at least once a day between her own social activities that include meeting friends for lunch and meeting another group to play cards and still another group to go out for evening walks. Pauline always invites Janice but Janice never accepts the invitation. Pauline mentions that she feels bad for Janice and keeps asking her in part because the other women in the community stopped asking once they realised Janice would never accept their invitations. Pauline tells you that she understands Janice is an introvert and that she also has a great deal of trouble trusting or relying on others. She tells you a story about how Janice often sacrifices her own goals in life (she wanted to be an accountant) to take care of her family. You recall Janice mentioned that she has often felt let down by others and that she realised at a young age that she was the only person she could really rely on.
When you speak with Jeanette, she mentions that she saw Jill smoking the “wacky tobaccy” with her boyfriend across the street last week. Jill denied this when you spoke with her. Jessica tells you that Jill has only smoked a joint once due to pressure from her boyfriend and didn’t like it. Jill has a new boyfriend now who doesn’t smoke and is majoring in Nursing at Lakehead University. Jessica asks you to keep quiet about this because Janice would not approve and the girls don’t want to “stress her out”. Peter is enjoying the counselling sessions. He tells you that he enjoys the arts and crafts. Peter’s medical reports indicate his care is proceeding well and that the doctor believes he would benefit from physiotherapy and massage services. Janice tells you that “physiotherapy and massage” are only for rich people and that she doesn’t have extended medical benefits through her work. She changes the subject sharing that Peter won an art award at school four days ago. During your visit to the family’s home, Peter asks you if you would like to see his award which is displayed on the bookshelf beside the television in the living room. He was beaming with pride and then adopted a very serious expression when telling you that Jeanette was jealous and broke the award. Jill and Jessica repaired Peter’s award and created a special ceremony to re-award Peter with the repaired award. Jeanette was the MC of the ceremony and made a public apology to Peter. Peter seems to be a very forgiving child and was excited about the ceremony. Jeannette enjoyed being the emcee but believes she is better at art than Peter. When you speak to Jeanette about her relationship with Peter, she becomes quiet and averts her eyes. She tells you that “everyone likes Peter better and that he is faking being sick so everyone will pay attention to him”. She tells you that she used to be angry at Peter but now he only annoys her some of the time. Jeanette also mentions that she likes her counsellor but that she would rather go swimming than talk about Peter and her behaviour. When you arrived at the home, you observed Jeanette and Peter happily racing Peter’s toy cars while attending a pool party with Jeanette’s barbie dolls. They tell you that they are tired of playing inside but are not allowed to play outside because of the boys who keep throwing broken bottles and garbage in their yard. The kids are wearing stained clothing. When you visit Cathy, you notice that she has a band-aid on her arm and seems a little fussy. Janice mentions that Cathy does not like vaccinations but managed well in the appointment. Janice was late returning to the home for your visit due to car problems. She tells you that the garage has agreed to repair her car on credit. She is worried about the cost but is glad she doesn’t have to pay the $400 all at once. “Thank goodness for my raise”, she says. Dana notices a small pile of baby clothes on the dresser and comments on the lovely clothes. Janice mentions she heard about a drop-in mom and tot group on her reserve. She says excitedly, “Cathy has a tonne of new clothes and toys now and Jeanette and Peter are enrolled in a crafting class. It is working out well because the kids also have an opportunity to spend time with their grandfather who picks them up and spends time with him afterwards”. Janice mentions that “it seems strange that my dad has a girlfriend after all these years but that it is good for him and the kids.” Janice’s father’s girlfriend Theresa, who also lives on the reserve near her father drives Janice’s father and they both Janice and the kids spending Sundays at the house. The house is a little crowded with all of the people (including Jill and Jessica’s boyfriends) but the kids seem to love it when family visits. Janice enjoys the visits but ends up doing a lot of preparation and cleanup. Working early on Monday mornings is making the visits challenging.When speaking with Jill and Jessica, you learn that Janice has been having abdominal pains and has not been able to get an appointment with the locum or the nurse practitioner. She went to the emergency department on the weekend but was treated rudely by the nurse and had to leave to go to work on Sunday due to a worker not showing up for her shift. The kids are worried and Jill and Jessica have told Janice to try again and they would watch the kids. Janice has yet to go and makes excuses whenever the kids bring it up. Janice was overheard crying in her bedroom by Jill. Jill is worried about Janice but doesn’t want to pry. She tells you that the family members love each other but don’t talk about problems or feelings. Janice always takes care of everything and tells everyone not to worry. Jill and Jessica tell you that they take care of the kids and they feel like adults but are treated like children by Janice. “She won’t tell us anything. We know she is upset and struggling but she won’t tell us anything. She gives us chores to do and we do them. She is extremely organized but doesn’t have time to do anything extra.”
The school is not reporting any problematic behaviour by Peter or Jeannette. The children are attending classes regularly with the exception of the last week when Jeanette was absent. The children attend different classes and do not spend time with each other during school hours.
The family is busy preparing for dinner when Dana leaves. Dana sees the family is having chicken, vegetables and a fresh salad. The baby’s new playpen is set up in the kitchen and Jeanette and Peter are standing outside of the playpen handing stuffed animals to Cathy who is excitedly receiving them while sitting inside the playpen and observing the meal preparation activities in the kitchen

2. Based on the evolving details included in this scenario, your group will:

  • a) identify which sections of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act (2017) https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/17c14 apply to the case
  • b) identify evidence in the case that corroborates the identified sections of the Act; and;
  • c) identify recommended responses/actions to be taken in relation to the legislation.