Woman says her application to foster a child was denied because she’s Jewish

MONTREAL – Yet another person has come forward with nightmare stories from trying to foster local kids.

Earlier this year, CityNews brought you the stories of Amanda and Emmanuel and of Kimberly and Antonio – two couples unable to foster a child in Montreal because they were told they speak English and live in Laval.

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• Anglo couple’s foster application denied
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Marissa Sidel Dubrofsky is sharing a similar story. For 11 years, Dubrofsky tried to become a foster parent in Quebec, but she says she gave up on the system.

“Finally [after] being accepted I was eventually told that the reason why it was taking so long to find a child was because I was a white Jewish woman,” said Dubrofsky.

“I believe that this is a very broken system it is the quintessential the left hand doesn’t speak to the right hand.”

CityNews reached out to Batshaw Youth and Family Centres but has yet to hear back. Last week, the centre said that the goal is to match a child with a family that has a similar racial or cultural environment.

WATCH: Health Authority explains foster match process

But Dubrofsky says not only did she feel discriminated against because of her faith, but the wait time was so long she had time to fall in love and get married before hearing back from the centre.

“Somewhere in 2019, they said, ‘Oh, yes we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.’ I had enough time to meet someone, date him, get engaged and get married before they called me to follow-up on how I was doing.”

Although she understood the process would be long, she never thought her faith would be a factor in her application process, leaving her no choice but to give up on her dream of fostering a child.

“Let’s be clear. I’m Jewish and I keep the Sabbath. So, I don’t drive on the Sabbath, so my mobility on Saturdays and Jewish holidays [is limited] and I’m kosher, so that is what they were asking me about. So, in essence, because I was refusing to compromise my values, they were saying it was going to be difficult to find a child with my lifestyle,” she said.

“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m a competent parent that has a healthy home that’s stable and a child can flourish in. And was denied the opportunity to give that home to a child because I’m a white Jewish woman.”