MOM TAKES ON MINISTRY TO GET KIDS OUT OF 'ABUSIVE' SYSTEM

An Abbotsford mother who is a recovering addict says her children are
in danger while under the care of the Ministry of Children and Family
Development.

She's also questioning the professionalism of a social worker
described by a witness as "out of control" and who "knowingly
escalated the hysteria" of the family during an apprehension.

Carmen Brunsch, the mother of five, had her three youngest children
removed by ministry social workers on May 16 in Abbotsford.

At a supervised visit 10 days later, she was horrified to find her
infant son bruised and bleeding and her daughter infested with head
lice.

"The foster mother said, 'He had a bit of an accident,' " said
Brunsch, who said she still doesn't know what happened to her little
boy.

The baby had bruising on his head and a bloodied nose at the first
supervised visit she had with her children since their apprehension,
she said.

"He had blood coming out of nose, a black eye and the top of [the
inside] of his mouth was black," Brunsch said.

Her five-year-old girl had developed a case of head lice, something
she didn't have before going into care, and was "so distraught she
couldn't speak," said Brunsch.

One visit was cancelled so the children could see a doctor, but
Brunsch hasn't been told why or who the doctor is. Last week, her
two-year-old girl had a cut and bruising high on her thigh that
Brunsch was told happened from a fall at a pool. Although she's
allowed phone calls, she hasn't been able to make calls to her
children between visits, she said. She fears for their safety and
emotional well-being.

"I don't know how this is supposed to be helping my children. They
weren't getting hurt in my care, but now this is the third time
something's happened to my kids," said Brunsch, who's convinced her
five-year-old is afraid of her foster family. The little girl cries at
the end of the visits and begged to come home last week.

"I just sat and cried for half an hour. My first instinct is to
protect my kids but they won't let me," Brunsch said.

Brunsch has been under supervision by the Ministry of Children and
Family Development for about 18 months. When she found she was
pregnant, she checked herself into detox, she said. While dealing with
the Mission office, Brunsch had substantial support. She and her
teenage daughter had counselling, a care aide took her youngest kids
on outings and she had Parent Project classes. Her regular urine
samples were negative for drugs, she said. In one report, a social
worker describes Brunsch as "very co-operative."

"I was clean for 15 months," Brunsch said. When she was switched to an
Abbotsford case worker this year, things changed. The care aide was
cancelled, as was counselling for her and her daughter.

Her new social worker said her place was dirty but cancelled her
washer and dryer order and said her regular urine samples were inadequate.

The day of the apprehension turned into a freak show, wrote a friend
of Brunsch's in a letter to the ministry. While one worker stayed calm
and professional, Brunsch's social worker "was screaming inside the
door for five to 10 minutes," upsetting the two little girls, then got
into a screaming match with the mother, "knowingly escalating the
hysteria on both the mother's and the children's part," writes the
friend. Brunsch's 14-year-old daughter was crying outside, pushed out
by the social worker, said the friend, who added the worker also
grabbed her arm.

Brunsch is hoping the court will give her kids back on July 8 and find
answers to questions about discrepancies in her file. Her children's
names are confused on reports, some signed by a worker she doesn't
know; the fathers of the children have not been notified their
children are in ministry care; social workers claim Brunsch's older
daughter stays home from school to look after her siblings, but she
has a perfect attendance record award from her school, said Brunsch.
Calls to the ministry's regional officer weren't returned by press
time. Mission lawyer Donna Maser confirmed she is representing Brunsch
in this matter, but declined to comment.