Calgary foster parent facing abuse charges should have undergone rigid checks

By Sherri Zickefoose

A city man at the centre of sexual abuse charges against teens under care in his foster home should have been subjected to at least four checks a year under the province's authority.

Under its guidelines for foster homes, Children and Youth Services staff were required to check on Garry Prokopishin's northwest duplex every three months.

He had opened his Beddington home to 55 troubled teens over the past 20 years.

On Thursday, police laid charges against Prokopishin, who is accused of offering three teens under his care money in exchange for sexual acts between January 2006 and April 2008.

In the wake of the shocking allegations, the province says its system is solid -- all of its foster families are required to renew their foster home licence yearly, and must update criminal background checks every three years. Most meetings are required to be in the home, face to face.

Due to privacy issues, officials won't say how often they visited Prokopishin's home.

Youth workers meet with foster children face to face or on the telephone every month for the first three months.

When children are school aged, they meet with case workers without foster parents being present, to allow them privacy to disclose concerns.

The system's screening and supporting foster parents is solid, according to a longtime caregiver.

The woman, who cannot be identified under child protection laws, has been a Calgary foster parent for 28 years.

"I think there's been tons of improvements in the last decade on how to police and screen foster parents, foster children," she said.

"There's a lot of supports out there that are available."

Alberta Children and Youth Services Minister Yvonne Fritz, who promised a sweeping review of the case, calls the sex offence charges against a foster parent "very rare."

"I know that foster parents are well screened. I know that there are opportunities for staff to meet with foster parents," Fritz told reporters after learning of the criminal charges Thursday.

Prokopishin is charged with luring a child by cellphone, three counts each of obtaining or attempting to obtain sex from a person under 18 years of age and sexual contact with a youth by a person in authority.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

Calgary police say they have interviewed 13 out of 55 former foster kids who lived in the couple's care over the past 20 years.

All of the boys who lived in the home were high-risk teens with past troubles with police, and drug and alcohol problems, police said. They were between 14 and 17, and up to five teens lived there at a time.

Last June, police received a tip from an agency that sparked their investigation. Police did not confirm if the allegations that a man was allegedly engaging in sexual acts with underage boys was reported by Children's Services.

Three boys under 18 were victimized between January 2006 and April 2008, police allege.

No children have been living in the home since June, police say.

Prokopishin is a director for the Calgary & District Foster Parents Association and was named 2007 Foster Family of the Year.