Laval couple told they can’t foster because centre doesn’t ‘need anymore Caucasian families’

MONTREAL – After CityNews brought you the story of a couple told they couldn’t foster a child because they speak English and live in Laval, another woman has come forward detailing a similar situation.

Kimberly Soeiro contacted CityNews after seeing Amanda and Emmanuel’s story.

The couple is unable to foster a child in Montreal because they were told they speak English and live in Laval.

WATCH: Anglo couple’s foster application denied

Soeiro was told she wasn’t eligible either.

“I will quote her because these words for the rest of my life will never leave me: ‘In the past, we have accepted families to foster for Batshaw from Laval. However, at the time being, we are so saturated with Caucasian families that we have no need to look further for them in other boroughs. What we really need are Black families and Hispanic families. We don’t need Caucasian families.’”

Back in 2019, Soeiro and her husband Antonio decided to foster a child. After two meetings and a written exam, they were approved to foster at Youth Protection Laval.

With no long-term fostering available in Laval the couple started considering moving to Montreal to be eligible to foster from Batshaw Youth and Family Centre. They sold their home in Laval to move but met a nurse who worked at Batshaw that told them moving to Montreal wasn’t mandatory to be a foster parent with the organization.

“[We were told], ‘I know for a fact that we have Laval families that foster for us at Batshaw. So, if moving to Montreal doesn’t exactly thrill you guys believe me the wait period at Batshaw–just like DPJ Montreal–is quite quick.”

That is when they decided to stay in Laval and purchased a new home.

After having one meeting at Batshaw they had confirmation from five employees at the centre confirming that they were eligible to foster with them.

That is until they were told that was no longer the case after their Laval file was transferred to Montreal.

“Had that person not entered our life at Batshaw, we would’ve been living in Montreal as we speak. And then be on the list,” said Soeiro.

Months later Soeiro says Batshaw reached out pleading if they could foster a child with COVID-19.

“We weren’t okay to foster the regular children, the children waiting for homes, but now we are okay to temporarily take in a sick child with COVID. For that, Laval was okay,” said Soeiro.

A social worker who previously worked at Batshaw says she’s not surprised to hear these families getting denied access to foster children in Montreal because they live in another region.

“The argument is that you are taking away a child from their home and area, so you’d be crossing different lines and tolls to go to their school, to get a bus there. What if there are special needs? So, there are regional issues which is totally understandable,” said Cyndi Owen, a social worker with Batshaw.

“The problem is we are denying there are English kids in different regions. So, there are just no English kids in Laval?”

“Man, if only we were in Montreal. We would’ve probably been foster parents by now. And I knew that no matter how much I pushed–was it even going to change anything?” said Soeiro.

“What my husband and I went through should never happen to anyone. We uprooted our lives. We changed all our plans with the hopes of becoming a family.”