SOCIAL SERVICES INDEX

Though in some ways having more power than either lawcourts or police, the social services agencies set up by governments generally have little accountability for how that power is used. The inevitable result of unaccountable power is injustice. Beyond that, the ideological forces which have produced so much gender bias in society generally in recent years have become particularly entrenched in these agencies, and in related private ones receiving public funding. The resulting injustices have been massive in scope. The general discussions (labels beginning with A) and individual case histories (labels beginning with B) below are meant to reveal injustices in this arena, in hopes of spurring all the desperately needed reforms.

This article is a set of suggested reforms to deal with the lack of external accountability in Alberta's Child Welfare system. It was presented at a meeting of top Alberta Social Services executives, along with a number of individual horror-stories, in October of 1999. To date, MERGE has received no response from that presentation.