Community services minister defends worker safety as charges dropped against Nichele Benn
Posted Mar 27, 2015 07:52:24 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An intellectually disabled woman accused of biting and hitting a staff member at a Halifax-area care facility has had charges against her dropped, but the minister in charge of these facilities isn’t offering any apologies.
Halifax police were called to Quest Regional Rehabilitation Centre in Lower Sackville on December 12th, 2013 when Nichele Benn was accused of biting and hitting an employee with a foam letter and a shoe.
Benn’s mother, Brenda Hardiman, had contended this was a health issue, not a criminal one, and police should not be involved.
Community services minister Joanne Bernard said the government doesn’t tell these facilities how to structure their policies.
“I would not want to be a service provider that was told by a government department what was appropriate in terms of my staff, who felt they had been assaulted, on if they call police” said Bernard.
Bernard added staff at these facilities have the right to feel safe in their workplace, and Hardiman agrees, but said this type of job comes with risks.
“These staff members are working in an environment where there are going to be special needs people there,” said Hardiman. “Sometimes aggressive behaviour may occur.”
She believes the government should close all facilities like Quest and move people into small option homes.
