Badshaw Family Services Review

This is mostly addressed to anyone who is considering becoming a "forever foster family", meaning becoming a foster family with children placed until age of majority.

We decided to become a forever foster family a little more than 5 years ago. Children were assigned to us before a court judgement was rendered (Batshaw can do things like this before a court makes a decision), but eventually, the children were officially placed in foster care, with us, until age of majority.

We were told at the outset that we would not be in control, compared to adopting outside the country, for example. We accepted that, but we did not appreciate the dimension this could take until it all turned into a nightmare, almost a year ago, based on what we feel and many agree was an honest mistake. As with many youth protection nightmares, they start with a "signalement" as was the case with us. The sequence of events after this is one that you should know about. As I said, we made a mistake, and we were honest and honed up to it. I will not repeat it here as it will not make a difference but many natural parents have done this and we did not think we were doing anything wrong at the time. We now know it is a mistake and we stopped immediately after the day of the signalement. But read on.

Everything depends on the opinion of the child's social worker. That opinion seems rarely challenged by others at Batshaw, but actions that follow sometimes make you wonder what exactly motivates them. A full 3 months after the signalement, we were summoned to be told that Batshaw decided to petition the court to remove the children "in emergency" in 2 days, and that once the children left, we would no longer be a foster family. We were floored.

They came to tell the children the same day they were going to be taken away and go somewhere else. The children cried for over 2 hours and of course were completely destabilized. The emergency proceeding happened 5 days later (a long time for the children to wait for the other shoe to drop) but thankfully the court threw out Batshaw's petition and allowed the children to remain with the foster family, us. The court also asked Batshaw to provide assistance to the foster family in the form of an educator. We thought we were close to concluding this episode.

The next day, following the court hearing, our foster home was closed, but the children were still with us!? Why would they do this? By the way, this means no more revenue (you get compensated for fostering children). It has been 7 months now that we pay out-of-pocket for their care, their clothes, gifts, travel and private school (yes, we put them in private school!!). We are also paying tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to fight Batshaw in court because our values will not allow us to give up on the children.

This is not over. We have two more court dates in 2019 and Batshaw is still bent on removing the children from us. It is a mistake, after all we have done and are still doing for the children, whom we now love as if our own. They are happy children, well adjusted, attached and loving. They do well in school, despite some issues they struggle with that have nothing to do with us (all foster children have some issues). After 5 years of living with us, it makes no sense to remove them, yet, someone at Batshaw has decided that this was the policy decision that was to be applied and coming back on this decision is not something they can do without losing face or admitting a mistake.

This may not happen to you, but know that you are not in control, the system is not perfect by any means, and it may turn against you. If you cannot stomach that risk, being a "forever foster family" is not for you. Think of it this way: the children will be better off with their existing baggage without you adding to it by abandoning them part way through. Children are resilient, but to heal and flourish they do need security, stability and love. Them being abandoned again in their lives shatters all three at once and creates permanent damage.

Thank you for reading.

Just an awful place that needs an investigation as soon as possible.

I used to have to urinate in the corner of my room regularly because the staff would deny bathroom access. Very traumatizing, would not recommend :(

as a resident in a batshaw group home The staff are very very abusive and untrusted as everything you tell them they write it all down to use it against you in court and they never let you have freedom as they threaten to call the cops if you go outside for fresh air and they think they have full control over you well i been in the system since my early teens as im 16 now and im telling you this dont trust any group home staff or any batshaw worker as they will end up ruining you and your kids lifes i hope batshaw closes down to be very truthful #F*CKTHESYSTEM

Tough job. Employees have to face verbal and physical abuse as well as low wages. Staff is not appreciated so there s a huge turnover. As a result, the children don t have consistency which Is what staff is told they need the most? There are some great staff who love working with families and children unfortunately, due to the working conditions many of the good ones leave and your left with bitter insensitive staffers .. respect to those who stay.

I have recently been in contact with social workers at Batshaw to find my birth mother. They have all been excellent and more helpful than I would have expected given my other experiences with health care in Quebec. It's probably a very thankless job but I'm super impressed.

How does the government allow such a place to exist?

The social workers are extremely biased. Especially if you are not Jewish. They will throw all your kids under the bus to protect the Jewish parent.

A creepy place full of misfit and deranged employees.

After I was falsely accused by my ex Patricia Puyau of sexually and physically abusing our son 8 years ago, I didn't think I would be facing many precious years dealing with this inept and out of control facility. Most of the workers have been bullies, such as Jeremy Paul and Larry McDonald, but lately I have been dealing with some kinder and more sensible social workers, namely Darlene Job and Lyn Emond. I am doing my best to stay in my sons life but they are making things very difficult to do so. Still, Batshaw is a sad place full of evil spirited employees. I love my son dearly, he is innocent in all of this but has had to put up with this tragic situation for no reason other than the disturbed mind of his own mother.

They stepped into a child custody case and sorted it out for the mother. The ink wasn't even dry in Civil court (50/50) when they ruined my life. They called themselves Social Workers...they weren't. They were so biased, it still bothers me 14 years later.

In June 2016 I visited Batshaw with a view to seeing the "farm) for the last time for sentimental reasons (I was at the Boy's farm and training school in 1961). I attributed my stay there to teaching me the value of freedom and a benign form of incarceration that steered me from a life of juvenile crime to follow a straight and narrow path which kept me out of prison and led to prison sentences for most of my friends who were not caught committing crimes like I was.
Very unfortunately I was not allowed to venture past the barrier to the parade grounds for a short visit. Not even if I were to remain in my rental car for a short circuit around the grounds. I could not understand this position as when it was the Boy's farm visits were common from boys who were there in the past. I am 69 years old now and very disappointed that I could not visit. It appears that the institution is now a locked down prison. I am quite sad that I could not relive the friendships that I had there in the past from my recollections and have a short visit. I can understand security but I came from Vancouver and did not know any of the inmates there. So congratulations BATSHAW you killed a boyhood memory for me and one less bucket list for me to experience before I die. This is what happens when you have inflexible regulations imposed by bureaucrats.

There are some sick individuals that work at Batshaw social services,
who are given the opportunity to prey on the youth and mentally ill, when they are alone, desperate, and at their most vulnerable...