‘Decision to give up child should not come with stigma’ says child protection director of abandoned infant

HALIFAX – The province's director of child protection is weighing in on the case of a four-week-old infant found abandoned on a Halifax lawn, saying it's distressing but very rare.

 

On Sunday afternoon, officers were called out to Quinpool Road, where an infant had been found wearing a diaper and wrapped in a towel. 

 

Police said the baby was been brought to the IWK, where they determined she was healthy, she is now in the custody of the Department of Community Services.

 

Wendy Bungay, the director of child protection for the department, said cases of abandonment in the province are not very common.

 

“I've been with Child Welfare for three decades and the last incident that I can recall was back in the nineties,” said Wendy Bungay.

 

Legislation provides the Department of Community Services the ability to intervene and place the child in temporary care until a parent or legal guardian is located, according to Bungay.

 

“That provides the authority for a social worker to take a child into care for 72 hours and that provides a window to start that process of locating a parent or guardian,” she said. “If we're not able to locate anyone within 72 hours, it's necessary to bring the matter before family court and the child is formally taken into temporary care and custody.”

Bungay said Nova Scotia offers a program called 'options counseling' for struggling parents who are considering surrendering their child, giving them a chance to discuss their options with the province, including voluntarily giving up their child for adoption.

 

Other provinces, like British Columbia and Alberta, offer 'angel cradle' systems where parents can anonymously and safely leave an infant in a bassinet at a hospital where they are then handed over to child services for adoption.

 

But according to Bungay, that system is not ideal for our province.

 

“We're a very small province and given the very rare situation where this occurs, we'd like to encourage those individuals to reach out to supports that already exist,” she said.

 

Bungay said it's an unfortunate situation, but understands there are challenges that come with being a new parent.

 

“It's very distressing when something like this occurs and but it's very important that the decision to relinquish their child should not come with stigma or judgement.”