CITY GROW OP TEAM DOUBLES

About 1,300 marijuana grow operations in Surrey likely include 300
homes with children living in dangerous conditions, the city's fire
chief estimates.

The B.C. Association of Social Workers, Child Welfare and Family
Committee Chair says it's a "crisis situation" in need of fast action
by government.

The children are living "with the possibility of being electrocuted,
burned to death, smoke inhalation, poisoning, respiratory illness or
someone coming in and beating the crap out of their parents," said the
association's Paul Jenkinson.

"Wouldn't you think that's a crisis?"

He said the province needs to develop a policy directive to protect
children at risk.

The call comes as the number of children found in grow operations is
expected to increase significantly.

Last October, B.C. Hydro gave Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis the
locations of 1,300 homes with excessive power use (at least three
times higher than usual), which is most commonly linked with a
marijuana grow operation.

While 10 per cent may be "false positives," Garis believes an
additional 300 or so remain undetected.

The list of addresses is key for the Electrical Fire Safety Initiative
team, formed about a year ago to find and eradicate marijuana grow
operations. The team has recently doubled in size and now includes two
firefighters, two electrical inspectors, four police officers and two
clerical staff.

"This group should be able to be able to produce 120 to 150
inspections a month," Garis said.

At that rate, he's confident the team can shut down the current list
of grow operations in 10 months.

In the last year, the ESFI found 80 homes with 155 children living in
hazardous conditions. They were reported to the Children and Families
ministry.

Garis believes one in five of the 1,300 houses targeted by B.C. Hydro
will contain children, meaning almost 300 new reports to government
services.

Section 13 of the Child, Family and Community Services Act indicates a
child can be removed from a home "if the child has been, or is likely
to be," harmed physically, sexually, emotionally or is deprived of
necessary care.

B.C social workers want that to change.

"The ministry for Children and Families for years has made a mistake
in its focus," Jenkinson said Wednesday.

The ministry plans to add 100 child protection workers per year over
the next several years.

But Jenkinson said it must also create better policies.

"One hundred staff with no policy is just 100 more staff," he said.