https://manitobachiefs.com/press_releases/amc-calls-on-the-province-to-appoint-an-administrator-for-spirit-rising-house/

The Child Investigation Unit is now actively investigating SRH. Hopefully criminal charges will come out of this. Although SRH is being investigated the neglect is continuing within the homes and the owners have not stepped up. They are nowhere to be found while the staff are desperately trying to pick up the pieces of their mess.

They did not inform staff that they were being shut down and would most likely lose their jobs even though they were aware this was coming out. All staff found out with the rest of the public. Afterwards - the owners John Bennett, Ian Rabb, Kelli Register and Christine Ormiston sent the following statement to staff via text:

To our incredible team. It is with great sadness that we bring you this information.

As a result of the allegations made in a recent social media post and the investigations that followed, the Department of Families has made a political decision to transition away from Spirit Rising House as a provider. The media surrounding this will not be easy to hear and will be spun in the worst possible light.

We and all of you have done nothing but pour our hearts and souls into trying to work with these vulnerable kids over the past three years. Bringing them out of the worst situations and into safety.

The problems that exist inside government and every agency have boiled down to one talking point in media. That SRH did not have tight enough guidelines around harm reduction, it was not sanctioned and that provincial policy is not in place to properly support these types of facilities. It is the elephant in the room.

It is extremely unfortunate that we are being sacrificed in this public way and that the the child protection branch’s guiding mandate to protect these kids does not include working with us to correct these conditions and keeping these youth in their homes and supported by the people who love them.

We believe this transition will take place over several months and we are not closing today. We have committed to the province to work with each agency on proper transition planning for our youth. These transitions may include the agencies working directly with Foster Parents and caregivers to keep those homes running. Next Steps Interdependent Living and both group homes will likely be closed or at the very least under new management.

We are devastated by this news and cannot express how misled we feel by all levels of government and the agencies we work with.

The systemic barriers and failures go well beyond one small grassroots provider such as Spirit Rising House.

We were very open about strategies in every piece of literature we have shared with agencies. Weed use is in nearly every social history we review. While abstinence is the long term goal, many of our youth are choosing to smoke weed as harm reduction on their own to reduce consumption of other more harmful drugs. The stigma around the illness of addiction continues. That is the real story.

We have not shamed or punished our kids for their choices and have not broken down placements over relapses, we have been forced to deal with violent intoxication in our homes and watched youth suffer through painful detoxing with no assistance. We have not withheld their allowances when we knew they were buying themselves harm reduction and these were difficult choices as an organization. Our kids are in imminent risk of exploitation in sourcing street drugs and many are addicted to much worse substances. We did not receive proper support from guardian agencies, medical and psychiatric care, from law enforcement, from crisis supports, YASU, and the list goes on.

We have done our best to work inside a system fraught with denial and turning a blind eye to the trauma and real epidemic of addiction these kids face. They are suffering and we have tried to help. We were repeatedly invited to help and have many miracles to be proud of.

While we want to fight - it’s seems a decision has been made and we are without recourse.

We know your hearts and we understand the pain and financial insecurity this causes. You are all champions for youth and we pray that you will stay on to ensure the kids are affected in the least possible way while plans are made for new placements.

We will share more details as soon as we are made aware.

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It is clear in their statement that they are doubling down and refusing to take any responsibility for their actions. They place the blame on everyone else. The reality is that it was illegal and harmful to provide these children with cannabis daily. Despite their claims a lot of the youth have never struggled with opioid and meth use but were still provided with a gram of weed a day. They have children as young as age 12 in their program. It is such a shame and the issues do not stop at the cannabis use. We also must consider the amount of money that this for-profit company helped themselves to when it should have been going to the youth. I hope they also thoroughly investigate their financials since it is clear that money was taken from the youth for their own personal use. They have made loads of money off the backs of these youth and this is a common problem within our system. I hope that they will make an example out of them.

I hope this tragedy is a catalyst for change and these children will be protected going forward from people who have continuously taken advantage of them in every way.

Such a shame.