SOCIAL WORKERS WANT MORE PROTECTION FOR GROW-OP KIDS

New Alberta legislation protecting kids found in marijuana grow
operations has caught the attention of social workers who continue to
ask for stronger protocols for B.C.

Last December, Alberta passed the Drug-Endangered Children Act, which
establishes that having kids in a grow-op or meth lab environment can
be considered abuse.

An association representing social workers in this province said
similar guidelines are needed here.

"We liked that they were succinct in their naming of having children
in commercial grow-ops," said Paul Jenkinson, B.C. Association of
Social Workers, Child Welfare and Family Committee chair. "If you're a
social worker in Alberta, you have a much better direction, I think,
in how serious this is."

The issue of kids in drug homes is becoming increasingly important in
Surrey, where a new grow-op team is doubling in size. Fire Chief Len
Garis believes this city's estimated 1,300 grow operations could
include up to 300 homes with children living in dangerous conditions.

"There's at least five risks of having kids in marijuana grow-ops, and
they're not small," Jenkinson said Monday. "Sometimes I wonder about
the ministry's failure to address this clearly."

The association began lobbying the province last year for clear
protocols on what to do when a child is found in a grow-op. Nothing
has changed, Jenkinson said.

"Not a thing, and that's very disappointing."

In its first year, Surrey's new grow-op busting team found 80 homes
containing a total of 155 children living in hazardous conditions.

In each case where children were found, the team reported to the
children and families ministry.

Officials told The Leader last year all such cases are investigated,
but couldn't say how many, if any, kids were removed from the home.

Garis believes one in five of the remaining homes will also have
children, representing almost 300 new reports to the ministry.

Ministry officials said child protection workers follow a provincial
legislation which doesn't specifically address kids found in grow operations.

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 if the child is
deprived of necessary care or abandoned.

The minister responsible has said that's sufficient to deal with the
problem.

Jenkinson disagrees. "The act is not designed to specifically address
emerging social problems," Jenkinson said. While he isn't prepared to
embrace the Alberta model entirely, he said it provides good direction.

"Some excellent language, naming it as abuse and child endangerment,
which really gives social workers clear direction that you have to do
clear and comprehensive work around grow-ops," Jenkinson said.