Paralyzed foster girl has system under a microscope

An internal investigation by Manitoba’s Families Department is nearly complete in the case of a six-year-old girl who is paralyzed after being assaulted by her foster mother in Winnipeg.

The review by child-welfare officials is intended to prevent similar incidents, but it’s unlikely the public will learn the findings or recommendations.

“We’re working closely with the (child and family services) authority to make sure that every recommendation is taken seriously and implemented,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Monday.

“They’re important (investigations) because they help us identify what went wrong so we can make those changes to ensure something like this tragedy never happens again.”

Fontaine said legislation prohibits her from publicly disclosing the findings or recommendations.

“What I can assure the public and citizens that are rightly concerned is that our department is working very, very closely with the authority to ensure this never happens again,” she said.

The girl’s foster mother, Marilyn Keno, 26, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of aggravated assault for the September 2025 incident.

Court heard Keno threw the girl to a bedroom floor at least three times after the child wouldn’t accept medication. Keno waited more than a day before seeking help for the girl’s injuries, which included a broken neck.

Three other children were removed from the home, which was owned by Island Lake First Nations Family Services, an agency of the First Nations of Northern Manitoba Child and Family Services Authority.

Manitoba’s CFS system is facing scrutiny after Keno’s court appearance, and, in an unrelated case, the death of a four-year-old girl who was found injured at a home in Long Plain First Nation on Aug. 9.

RCMP deemed the death suspicious. The girl’s sisters, aged one and two, were hospitalized with injuries. The children’s mother has told the Free Press she was working to get her kids back in her care after they were apprehended in October 2025.

She said she raised concerns with child-welfare officials after visiting her children in February and noticing bruises and malnourishment, but “nobody listened.”

The mother said Monday she is hoping to get an update on the RCMP investigation soon. Her youngest daughters remained in hospital.

“They will be for a while because they have to get their muscle strength back,” she said, noting her two-year-old daughter has regained enough strength to walk on her own again.

RCMP spokesman Kevin Engstrom said the investigation is ongoing.

The Families Department has opened its own internal investigation. Tory families critic Jodie Byram said her office sent a letter to Fontaine Monday to request a public review.

She said public reviews are necessary in both incidents so the system “can be looked at more thoroughly.”

“There have been too many deaths of vulnerable children that are in the system, and Manitobans need action and transparency,” Byram said.

Internal reviews do not renew Manitobans’ faith in the system, she said.

“That’s a concern for all Manitobans. We want to know where the gaps were, where was the breakdown?” Byram said. “This CFS system is a system that’s in place to protect all the children, all these vulnerable children across the province, and it’s failed.”

Parents or families of children in CFS care, such as the mother of the girl who died in Long Plain, must be heard when they raise concerns, she said.

Why deaths continue to happen within the system is “a question we grapple with daily,” Fontaine said.

“We’re doing everything that we can on our end to make sure these horrible, horrible incidents don’t occur,” she said. “The reality is though you can’t train people not to be violent.”

She said agencies and authorities are doing their best to ensure children are placed in safe places with the resources and services they need.

“99.9 per cent of the time, that occurs. Unfortunately, there are some individuals that are abominable,” Fontaine said.

She said her department is working with Manitoba’s four CFS authorities to ensure screening processes and policies align with the government’s responsibility to ensure children remain safe.

Independent reviews of CFS services provided to the girls in the Winnipeg and Long Plain incidents are being conducted by the office of Sherri Gott, Manitoba’s advocate for children and youth.

“Any time a child is seriously injured or a child dies in Manitoba, it is tragic. My office is aware of both of these cases and is reviewing information to determine if the standards of care were met, or if there were measures that should have been in place to prevent their occurrence,” Gott said in a statement.

“We communicate any findings back with involved agencies and individuals as necessary, and of course track any findings to identify any systemic issues that require government action.”

The Families Department’s latest annual report said 9,172 children were in care as of March 31, 2025, up from 8,919 the previous year. The report said 91 per cent of the children were Indigenous.

The most recent federal study found Manitoba had Canada’s highest rate of children in out-of-home care in 2022.

Manitoba Foster Parent Association president Jamie Pfau said incidents such as the assault of the six-year-old girl are preventable.

“When any child is harmed, it’s upsetting,” she said. “I think most people’s first response is anger, but for me it’s obviously incredible sadness and grief, and I really go into, ‘Why is this still happening?’”

She said the province must ensure best practices are applied and front-line employees’ concerns are heard.

Pfau has advocated for more social workers and, for foster parents, a mandatory pre-service training program, similar to those in Ontario and other provinces, to help them prepare or determine if fostering is a good fit for them.

“It is inexcusable that we don’t have one here,” she said of a standardized training program.

Last fall, the province announced an additional $558,500 in funding to the Kinship and Foster Family Network of Manitoba to provide an online training program for people who provide foster, kinship or customary care to children.

Fontaine said the province is still contemplating whether the program will be mandatory when it is in place.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca