Winter's Children

Winter’s Children The Emergence of Children’s Mental Health Services in Alberta 1905-2005 Germaine M. Dechant M Each item in The Muttart Fellowship Products Series carries “the look” designed for the program. The concept incorporating pebbles and water fits with the Zen-like qualities of the visual identity of the Fellowship Program. Each front-cover pebble is different—representing the uniqueness of each fellow and what s/he has to offer. Applicants are like pebbles among pebbles. After each is refreshed and renewed through the Fellowship year, s/he has an impact on the nonprofit charitable sector like the rings the pebble creates on a pond of water. The varied use of this design recognizes the individuality of the Fellows while also creating a unified look to the Muttart Fellowship Products Series. The Muttart Fellowship Program—unique in Canada—was created in 1996. A project of The Muttart Foundation, a private foundation based in Edmonton, Alberta, the program is designed to: • develop research and other materials that will benefit the charitable sector in Canada. • provide senior managers within the social-services sector with an opportunity for a sabbatical year—a chance to recharge and renew themselves. Up to five fellowships are awarded each year to people working in senior- management positions in social-service charities within the Foundation’s funding area of Alberta and Saskatchewan. During the Fellowship year, the Fellow leaves his or her agency to work on the chosen project. The Foundation makes a grant equal to the salary and benefit costs for the Fellow’s position, and provides a budget for expenses related to the project. At the end of the Fellowship year, the Fellow returns to his or her agency for at least a year. For more information about the project, please contact: Executive Director The Muttart Foundation 1150 Scotia Place 1 10060 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3R8 www.muttart.org Winter’s Children The Emergence of Children’s Mental Health Services in Alberta 1905-2005 Germaine M. Dechant M Published by: Copyright © 2006 by The Muttart Foundation Rights to this material are held by The Muttart Foundation. Permission is granted to any nonprofit organization to use the material, in whole or in part, for any non-commercial purpose, provided that credit is given to the author and to the Foundation. Permission for any other use must be obtained from The Muttart Foundation. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Dechant, Germaine M., 1947- Winter’s children : the emergence of children’s mental services in Alberta, 1905- 2005 / Germaine M. Dechant. (The Muttart Fellowships) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN: 1-897282-06-0 1. Children--Mental health services--Alberta--History. 2. Mentally ill children-- Services for--Alberta--History. I. Muttart Foundation II. Title. III. Series:Muttart fellowships RJ502.C3D43 2006 363.2’0830971230904 C2006-906171-8 Edited by Beckie Garber-Conrad, ABC • Book design by P40 Communications Printed and bound in Canada Table of Contents Acknowledgements ��8 Preface ��10 Chapter 1: The Formative Years: 1905-1920 .................................................... 15 The Children’s Aid Societies ............................................................................ 18 Troubled and Troubling Juvenile Delinquency ................................................ 19 The Impact of War and Influenza .................................................................... 23 Public Health and Mental Hygiene ..................................................................23 Chapter 2: The Roaring ’20s: The First Phase of Organized Mental Hygiene ...........................................25 The Mental Hygiene Movement ....................................................................... 27 Reform by Committee ...................................................................................... 28 Judgement Calls ................................................................................................29 Eugenics Board Case 3280 ............................................................................... 31 Shelving the Issue ............................................................................................. 32 1 The Mental Defectives Act ............................................................................... 33 Specialized Classrooms .................................................................................... 34 More Laws ....................................................................................................... 34 Training and Research ..................................................................................... 34 Mental Hygiene Clinics .................................................................................... 35 A Tireless Trailblazer’s Legacy ........................................................................ 38 Chapter 3: The Dirty ’30s: From Mental Deficiency to Mental Illness .........39 Mental Hygiene Clinics .................................................................................. 42 Chapter 4: The Unforgettable ‘40s: Children’s Mental Hygiene during War ...................................................... 47 Provincial Guidelance Clinics ..........................................................................48 Mental Diseases and Mental Defectives Acts ..................................................49 Amending the Child Welfare Act ......................................................................50 A Third CNCMH Survey .................................................................................. 51 School Counselling Services ...........................................................................53 Chapter 5:The Flying ’50s: From Handicapped Child to Exceptional Child ..........................................55 Provincial Guidance Clinics .............................................................................57 The General Practitioner and Emotional Disturbances ....................................58 Services for Retarded Children ........................................................................59 The Golden Jubilee and Legislative Change ....................................................60 Chapter 6:The Revolutionary ’60s: Psychiatric Treatment in General Hospitals ................................................ 63 A Children’s Unit in Edmonton ........................................................................ 64 2 Linden House .................................................................................................... 67 Calgary’s Children’s Hospital ........................................................................... 68 The Mental Health Act ..................................................................................... 68 Glenrose School Hospital .................................................................................69 Kennedy Hall and the Apollo Unit .................................................................. 72 Westfield Diagnostic and Treatment Centre .................................................... 72 More for the Mind ............................................................................................ 72 Royal Commission on Juvenile Delinquency ................................................. 74 Alberta Guidance Clinics ................................................................................. 75 Winter’s Children: The Emergence of Children’s Mental Health Services in Alberta 1905-2005 The Blair Report .............................................................................................. 76 Research ........................................................................................................... 79 Chapter 7: The Sizzling ’70s: Mental Health Staff—the Forgotten Civil Servants ..................................................................................................81 The Board of Visitors ...................................................................................... 84 Compulsory School Attendance Act ................................................................ 86 School Counselling .......................................................................................... 86 Response to the Blair Report ........................................................................... 87 The McKinsey Report ..................................................................................... 94 Chapter 8: The Grey ’80s: Children’s Rights, Outpatient Services, and a Flagship Program ................................................................................ 97 Royal Alexandra Hospital Edmonton .............................................................. 99 The Child Welfare Act .....................................................................................103 The Darker Side of Social Stress .................................................................... 104 The Young Offenders ’ Act ................................................................................ 105 Forensic Services ............................................................................................ 106 3 Growing Up Forgotten .................................................................................... 106 Child Abuse

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