Editor:
The B.C. government has now committed crimes against children.
It is inhumane to place children into adult mental wards because the government has closed beds for children in psychiatric wards.
At 16, my daughter suffered a major psychotic break.
There wasn’t a bed available for her in a children’s psychiatric ward.
She was committed by the B.C. government under the Mental Health Act and placed in an adult ward while we waited for one of the eight available beds for the Interior of B.C.
During this month-long wait, she escaped three times.
During one of these escapes she was wandering around in a pair of pajamas totally incoherent and unable to perceive the world around her.
I’m thankful that she was not abducted and raped— as she accepted a ride from a total stranger wearing a blue shirt in a white car.
When questioned she believed the stranger in a white car and a blue shirt was a policeman.
I called the hospital to let them know my daughter was at home.
I told the hospital that I would be keeping her at home until a bed was made available for her in a children’s unit.
The hospital’s reply was, “You can’t do that, she is a Ward of the Government now!”
The government claims that the Mental Health Act adequately protects the mentally ill.
If the mentally ill are deemed an endangerment to themselves and others they can be committed under the law.
Now considering this, isn’t a person an endangerment to themselves when they submit themselves to living on the streets in freezing temperatures without adequate housing?
I feel that Canada should be charged for inhumane, unjust, and neglectful actions in the care of the mentally ill children of the country.
If you are outraged and appalled as much as I am please contact your local MLA , and voice your support for the mentally ill children of our country.
Carrie-Ann Dambrowitz,
Osoyoos
OSOYOOS TIMES-November 25, 2009
