The family of an Indigenous teenager in provincial care who died in Port Alberni, B.C., wants answers from those responsible for her well-being.
Chantelle Williams, 18, was found outside and unresponsive by a passerby in the 4900 block of Ian Avenue during the early hours of Jan. 28.
Williams was in the guardianship care of Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services and living in a group home run by Inside Out Care Corporation when she died.
Her family says it believes she froze to death.
Environment Canada records for Jan 28 show that temperatures dropped below –5 C, –7 C with the wind chill.
Two ambulances attended Williams at 5:09 a.m. PT, according to B.C. Emergency Health Services spokesperson Bowen Osoko. She was taken to hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.
The location where Williams was found is only a few blocks from her group home, according to her family.
“Usma told us she died of natural causes. It seemed strange because she was so young,” said Williams’ aunt Shannon Nookemus.
“That just doesn’t sit with everybody because she’s 18 years old,” said Williams’ uncle Sean Walls. “Dies of a natural cause at 18?”
Another uncle says the family remains in the dark as to why his niece was outside that night.
“Somebody has to come out and tell the truth on what happened and who’s at fault, and, you know, a simple apology. There has been nothing of that sort,” said Martin Watts.
The B.C. Coroners Service said the investigation into the cause of death is still open and active. Police are treating Williams’ death as non-criminal pending the outcome of the coroner’s investigation, according to RCMP Sgt. Chet Carrol.
Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services is a delegated agency of the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD).
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) president Judith Sayers, who speaks for Usma, said in an email to CBC News: “The death of every child is heartbreaking and tragic. The NTC expresses our deepest heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and community at the loss of a child.”
Sayers said Usma would co-operate with MCFD, the Representative for Children and Youth, and others “in any other relevant process.”
CBC News did not receive a response to multiple emails and phone calls to the owners of Inside Out Care Corporation.
According to the family, Williams had been in hospital for an unspecified reason in the hours before she was found on Ian Avenue.
She was brought back from the hospital to the group home by someone, the family is unsure who, but then left the group home undetected.
‘Should have been under supervision’
“I think the foster parent or whoever would be keeping an eye on her if she was just released from the hospital, right? She should have been under supervision,” said Walls. “We would like to know who she was going to meet and why the group home didn’t have an eye watching her.”
Williams’s grandfather said the two had plans to meet the following day to go shopping at Walmart and have lunch at their favourite restaurant. He wonders why no one at the group home noticed she was missing.
“[Usma staff] could have driven down the road and found her on the sidewalk,” said George Nookemus. “I asked that question: ‘Did you look for her?’ They didn’t answer me.”
Williams was of Huu-ay-aht and Ahousaht ancestry.
‘Bright smile, loving heart’
In announcing her death on social media, family members wrote: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved daughter/niece, Chantelle Destiny Williams. Her bright smile, loving heart, and infectious laugh will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.”
Watts said Williams was “her own little free spirit” who liked to hang out with friends. She would have turned 19 in April.
“She was a few months away from aging out, which was the tough thing for us to understand,” said Watts. “How could somebody not be cared enough for until she turned 19 … She didn’t reach that goal.”
As part of a longer statement to CBC News, Jodie Wickens, Minister of Children and Family Development, said she is unable to comment on a specific child or youth in care because of confidentiality.
“What I can say is that when a child or youth dies in care, my expectation as the minister and as a mother is that we get to the truth of why and how it happened.”
Wickens said a practice review of care providers is automatic when a child or youth in care dies.
B.C. Children’s Representative Jennifer Charlesworth said in a lengthy email she is taking steps “to ensure lessons are learned and action is taken to prevent further harms and losses.”
“We have undertaken an initial review and gathered documentation to learn more about the circumstances surrounding this young person’s life and ultimate death in order to determine what action can be taken to inform practice and responsiveness both at the community level and across the broader system.”
Charlesworth said her office cannot undertake a formal investigation into Williams’ death for at least a year or until the B.C. Coroners Service and other authorities — including MCFD — have completed their inquiries.
Usma was the agency responsible for the guardianship of Dontay Patrick Lucas, a six-year-old Indigenous boy who was tortured and killed by his mother and stepfather only four months after Usma staff moved him from a foster home into their care.
The couple was sentenced to 15 years in prison each after being found guilty of manslaughter last year. The public has never learned what checks were done by Usma staff before and after the little boy was moved into the home.
Last year, when Dontay’s case was in the news, B.C. Premier David Eby pledged that British Columbians would “get the answers they need.”
CBC asked Eby’s for comment on Williams’ death and was referred by his office to the response from Minister Wickens.
Charlesworth’s office last year released Don’t Look Away, a report chronicling the torture, abuse and beating death in 2021 of a First Nations boy at the hands of extended family foster parents.
A follow-up report found chronic understaffing of MCFD social workers and a high degree of stress, fear and burnout within the social worker ranks.
According to MCFD, work is being done to “strengthen oversight and accountability,” including:
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Creating a new Indigenous child welfare director position and a new provincial child and youth well-being plan.
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Increasing the child welfare workforce by 20 per cent.
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Improved timelines around home visits to ensure that child welfare workers are connecting with families and children on a regular basis.
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New digital reporting and strengthening of practice support and oversight.
Commenting generally on Chantelle Williams’ death, Charlesworth pointed to the “deep and lasting trauma of residential schools, with the legacy of the Alberni Indian Residential School being particularly deeply felt.
“It is very easy to blame one person or one agency for the death of a young person, however as we see time and time again, and what appears to be emerging in this young person’s story, there is a complex interplay of missed opportunities and incomplete or unco-ordinated systemic responses that lead to tragedy,” said Charlesworth.
Williams’s funeral was held on Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day. She is buried at the Alberni Valley Memorial Gardens.
