Pubdate: Fri, 28 Dec 2007 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 CanWest News Service Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN FROM GROW-OP HOUSES WORRIES SOCIAL WORKERS VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Association of Social Workers is calling on the province to show the public how it deals with children taken from marijuana grow operations. The appeal follows the Dec. 11 removal of three children under the age of 12 from an Abbotsford grow op that had dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide. The children were put into the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development. According to a BCASW news release, there is no way to evaluate if children from drug houses are being properly protected or if the ministry has provided sufficient guidance to its child protection social workers. The association wants transparency when it comes to what criteria are applied by social workers conducting commercial grow-op child protection investigations and how marijuana grow-op children are kept safe by the child protection system beyond the initial investigation and response. BCASW spokesman Paul Jenkinson said that vague generalities such as every situation being "unique" don't build confidence in the child-protection system. Minister of Children and Family Development Tom Christensen was not available for comment, but a ministry spokeswoman said there is a clear policy for social workers to follow: the Child, Family and Community Service Act. She said the act gives social workers a broad mandate and there are no plans to change it. "One set of circumstances shouldn't be treated differently from any other," she said. "Front-line workers will determine the risk to the child based on the situation and act accordingly to make sure the child is protected. It's the social worker's obligation to determine if the environment is harmful to the child and determine if the child is in need of protection." The spokeswoman said the ministry receives and responds to more than 30,000 child protection reports across B.C. in any given year. The ministry doesn't track what kind of situation each child comes from. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake