Death of foster carer was avoidable, FAI finds

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) conducted before Sheriff David Bicket in Motherwell’s GLO Centre has heard that Dawn McKenzie, 34, could still be alive if Foster Care Associates Scotland (FCAS) took proper account of her and her husband’s inexperience as foster carers.

The boy, who was 13-years old at the time and can only be identified as “child D”, was Mrs McKenzie’s first foster placement.

In June 2011, he stabbed Mrs McKenzie to death at her home in Hamilton - a crime for which he was eventually detained for seven years, admitting culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Mrs McKenzie’s husband Bryan previously told the inquiry that the couple would have been “more cautious and better armed” if they knew more about the boy’s troubled upbringing when they accepted the placement.

Sheriff Bicket did not criticise the foster agency’s extant policies, but said the placement should not have been made.

He said: “The death of Mrs McKenzie might have been avoided if Foster Care Associates Scotland, when considering if they had a suitable placement for child D … had taken proper account of Mr and Mrs McKenzie’s status as new carers, and lack of suitable prior experience of adolescent aged children such as child D and accordingly had not recommended them as suitable prospective carers for .”

Sheriff Bicket also called for new foster carers to be provided with training in crisis prevention and intervention, explaining: “Whereas it cannot be said that such training would have made any difference in Dawn McKenzie’s case, in my view such training should be given to foster carers at the outset of their career, and repeated later.”

His series of recommendations include changes to the way foster carers are assessed and an end to the use of broad age ranges when matching children to families.

He also said foster carers should be given as much written information as possible about the child they are looking after.

Estella Abraham, chief executive of Foster Care Associates Scotland, said: “Dawn McKenzie was highly regarded as a child care worker before becoming a foster carer with FCA Scotland.

“Sheriff Bickett has recognised that in a short space of time she made a positive contribution to a young person’s life. Today our thoughts are with Dawn’s family and Bryan in particular and we wish to express our sincere condolences to them.

“The conclusion of the inquiry was that Dawn’s death was the result of an entirely unpredictable event.

“We will now reflect on the full findings and the recommendations made in the judgement to ensure that the foster care provided in Scotland continues to be the best it can be for the children involved and the families who care for them. Our commitment is to provide high quality foster care placement.”

Glasgow City Council, which engaged the agency, has announced it will produce a report considering “the implications of the sheriff’s findings for the council, and what action we require to take as a result”.

The Glasgow Child Protection Committee published findings of its own review of the foster carer system in 2013, after which some changes were made at a local level.