An investigation into a situation in which two children from another province were placed in care in a home in Newfoundland and Labrador ended up being physically abused and off the radar of social workers for almost two years is critical of both provinces involved.

The two children were placed in a home in this province with two caregivers in April, 2021 but neither the originating province nor this province did any monitoring or checking on their status. It was thought that they were on an extended visit to NL.

The report, titled “Off The Radar,” found that “there had been no planning, monitoring, or oversight of the children’s placement by NL social workers during their extended stay in the province or the two years the children had remained in the province.”

In fact, there was no documented discussion between the two provinces that the children had been residing in Newfoundland/Labrador for two years.

Social workers missed what should have been a red flag when the kids were taken to Public Health for immunization shots one year after being here, but officials could find no record of them being in the system. The nurse doing the injections raised the matter with the government department responsible for children, but the department did not delve deeper into the matter.

Eventually, police laid charges related to the maltreatment of the children.

Advocate Wilma MacInnis makes four recommendations to government to close some of the loopholes.