
A message to our Kinsight community following inquest
On Friday, January 24th, an inquest into the death of Florence Girard concluded with a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring a tragedy of this kind never happens again. Florence died in October of 2018, while in the home of a contracted care provider.
This was a tragic circumstance, unlike anything we have experienced in our history – and we remain heartbroken.
The objective of an inquest is not to find fault but to better understand what led to Florence’s death and recommend specific actions to strengthen the system of support and oversight across the entire sector.
The former provider was convicted of failing to provide Florence with the necessaries of life in 2022. At the root of this tragedy was a decades-long relationship between the former provider, Florence, and our agency. The relationship was characterized by trust – a trust that was ultimately broken. The fact that we didn’t recognize this at the time has been difficult to come to terms with.
As the evidence at the inquest showed, our home-sharing service has been the subject of many regular monitoring reviews and accreditation surveys, and it had performed well. Despite this, the unimaginable occurred. It was shocking and underscored the need to review our role and examine the broader system.
During the inquest, we shared information about many of the safeguards put in place since 2018. These included improved tracking and auditing through implementation of a new information management system and enhanced assessment and planning to support people’s individual needs. We made staffing changes and engaged external expertise to support an overall review of the program, resulting in process changes, additional training and coaching for staff, and increased supervisory oversight.
The inquest jury made 13 recommendations for Community Living BC, the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction and Ministry of Health, including one recommendation for the entire sector (CLBC and all agencies providing home-sharing services). They ranged from increasing funding and reducing caseloads to introducing a provincial case management database and reinstating the Provincial Medical Consultant. Many of the recommendations were proposed and/or supported by Kinsight, and we believe that if enacted, they will create needed change.
On behalf of Kinsight, I wish to share our profound sorrow. Our hope is that the actions we have taken in the years since Florence’s death and the implementation of the recommendations from the inquest will ensure that this never happens again.
To our Kinsight community, those with a disability or that care deeply for people with disabilities in our lives, I know the tragedy of Florence’s death has weighed heavily on everyone, and I am deeply sorry.
We are reminded of the directive from the families who founded us in 1954: to create better, more welcoming communities for their children. We take that directive very seriously and will continue to pursue improvements and partnerships that will benefit the people we support, their families, and the community.
Sincerely,
Christine Scott, Kinsight CEO