Forced to surrender boy to Children's Aid care, family fights for better mental health support

A family forced to surrender custody of a 13-year-old boy to the Children's Aid Society (CAS) say there is virtually no care for him and other traumatized kids like him in the London region and beyond. 

The boy's mother and grandmother point to a lack of services and a system that has only made the boy's problems worse since he entered the Children's Aid care six months ago, moving between group homes, live-in treatment centres, hotel rooms and finally a therapeutic home created especially for families who have to surrender their kids to the agency. 

"I feel as though I am grieving the loss of my son, because I am watching him slip further and further away from me and there is literally nothing I can do," said his mother. "The things that he's been through are unimaginable and there are no resources whatsoever. 

The boy is one of nine kids from the London region who don't otherwise need CAS support but have been surrendered by families to the organization's custody, desperate for any kind of mental health treatment, according to numbers provided by the Children's Aid Society of London and Middlesex.

In the case of this child, his behaviour was putting himself and his family in danger, and his mother decided it was the only way she could keep everyone safe. CBC News is not identifying the family as the child is a minor, and is in care. 

"They're often juggling multiple diagnosis, such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, attachment disorder, combined with other challenges such as histories of trauma, possibly developmental challenges and certainly attachment challenges," said Chris Tremeer, the agency's executive director. 

"When you roll that all together into a young person, you often end up exhibiting aggressive behaviour as well, and those are the families that tend to be coming to us, where the behaviour has escalated to the point where they're not able to manage that safely in their home anymore." 

The 13-year-old boy's mental health began deteriorating three years ago, when he found his mom's fiancé dead of an overdose in the family's garage. He received some psychological support. Then, last year, the boy was assaulted by a family acquaintance who has since been charge with luring a minor, sexual assault and making sexually explicit material available to a minor. 

The boy's mental health worsened after that. He became violent with family members, including his younger sister, and threatening to harm himself and others. Trips to the emergency room ended with doctors sending the child home, where his mom and grandma were worried for their safety.

Police officers had to be called to the home because of violent behaviour. No one was able to help get the boy the specialized mental health care that he needs, his grandmother said.

"He gets funded for six counselling appointments and he doesn't talk for the first three, and then when he finally starts opening up, it's the sixth visit and he's reached the maximum," she told CBC News said. 

If he had gotten the treatment he needed immediately, the family believes his mental health would not have degenerated so much, his grandma said. 

"I've looked at videos from four years ago, and you wouldn't even know it was the same kid. He's so much worse than he was even six months ago. I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel."