Our local paper just released a story about a young family living in a rooming house - they had a small baby and that baby was injured. The parents are being charged with assault causing injury to the child. The parents are young - 23years old, and both are said to have an university education - and of course they are poor.
Things we do know - The landlord rented the room to this young family knowing that it was not suitable for children as the other tenants are single men many (not all) who have been in conflict with the law and are in addiction recovery.
The public health nurse was in to see the family on a regular basis
Source of income - I will speculate it was social assistance (welfare) so then the caseworker would have been aware of the living conditions.
So what happened? The system let this family down - they were young inexperienced and in need of adequate housing and supports - why did this not happen? Why did not the professionals involved in their lives step in sooner.
Would adequate housing and better income have improved the situation. From what I know the Mother never left the room - they stayed locked inside - only mixing with others in the rooming house when they needed the bathroom or kitchen -
Think about the impact of being young, new parents, forced to live in unsuitable conditions, under resourced - even perhaps being fearful for you and your child's safety - think of the pressure that would put on the parents - in my opinion it was a recipe for disaster - the results - could be a lost of life and for certain a destruction of a family
What could have been done - better housing, more supports - the department of community services as well as the health care providers - really needs to review their policies to ensure adequate resources are provided in a timely manner to those in need.
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