The social services network that failed the murdered Shafia sisters is being put under the microscope now that the guilty verdict has been handed down.
"I think these cases are very complex," says Madeleine Bérard, director of youth protection for Batshaw Youth and Family Services. She says the Shafia case was handled by both Batshaw and its french counterpart but separately in 2008 and 2009, so the first incident never came up as an earlier warning.
"I think that's where there was the gap was in terms of the two youth centres working together," Bérard says.
There's now one province wide registry to cross check cases, more training as well as discussions with cultural consultants. A review of the case by both youth centres is in the works.
"What happened a year later if it had been assessed as a second 'signalement' might have made a difference."
But she cautions this was an extreme case.
"We might have precipitated things if we had removed the children, I can't say. You're asking me to do this in hindsight with no crystal ball and it's really impossible to do."
Resources scarce
Bernie Praw, EMSB commissioner and long time former educator, says they do the best they can under the circumstances to intervene in family disputes, and refer to their own cultural experts, counsellors and psychologists if necessary.
"Knowing that the kind of budget we spend on services for the kids, that we have enough support for them, but a school can only do so much, you know," Praw says.
Resources in dealing with new immigrants are also scarce. Victoria Jahesh of the Afghan Women's Centre in Montreal says they do what they can in helping them adapt and integrate.
"If they are referred to us, we try to just intervene and just ot ask questions about their problems and just to explain them and show them the better way and the best way that they could take advantage," Jahesh says.
She fears a backlash following the verdict.
"Afghan people are very open-minded. We don't have to generalize one particular community if one family did such a stupid thing, it means the entire community would do the same thing with their children. This is nothing to do with that. We love this country and we love our children."
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