EDMONTON -- There will be more staff and a review of all residents' files at the group home that housed the boys charged in two homicides near Ardrossan last week.
"We understand that there's nothing they can do now to take away the pain from the families of the people affected, as well as from the youth affected from last weekend's events. However, we do want to ensure that they put into place the changes required to reduce further impact," Jim Stephens of the Strathcona Residents' Association said yesterday.
For years, Stephens has been pushing for changes in the way Bosco Homes' Uncas Campus is run and is optimistic after Tuesday night's meeting.
On Sunday afternoon -- less than a week after Barry Boenke, 68, and Susan Trudel, 50, were killed at a rural residence near Ardrossan -- Stephens and other residents sat down with members of the RCMP, Strathcona County, Children and Youth Services and Bosco Homes to find ways to stop another such tragedy from happening.
Effective Tuesday, Bosco Homes has promised to hire more staff, review the files of all residents to make sure that the group home is the appropriate place for them and discontinue admissions into the home, confirmed Trevor Coulombe, spokesman for Alberta Children and Youth Services.
The cap on admissions is in place until "the outstanding community concerns are addressed," he said.
While Stephens applauds the moves, he said they are a crucial first step in the process, not the end result.
"We need some out-of-the-box thinking and new ways of looking at things," he said yesterday.
"I don't want to pre-empt what we're going to come up with, but it's really all about if all protocols were followed and there was a problem, maybe protocols need to change. I think that's part of the process."
While admitting some of the goals the residents' association he represents are lofty -- including cutting the number of runaways from about 300 to zero and removing all children who may pose a substantial threat to the community -- he says such targets give the group a goal to work towards.
This is not the first time such a multi-agency group has been set up to combat the issues surrounding the group home, but Stephens is hopeful that this time the results will be far-reaching.
"The difference this time is that the group has a bigger focus on it and I think there's more of a will to make it work," he said.
The group's meeting was held behind closed doors, but plans are underway to hold a similar meeting, one that will be open to the public, in the next week or two.
Stephens is asking all area residents to pitch in by writing about their concerns and experiences to strathconara@live.ca.
There has been at least one other runaway since the slayings. On Sunday, a boy went AWOL from the Uncas Campus for about 20 minutes, police said.
TAMAS.VIRAG@SUNMEDIA.COM
